The Alberta government is spending $384 million over the next three years to build an advanced skills centre at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton. Fifteen thousand students will study at the facility annually. It is expected to increase the number of apprentices available in Alberta each year by 5,500 when it opens in 2030. “The advanced skills centre will fundamentally change how students learn. By bringing together 29 trades and technology programs under one roof, we are creating a learning environment that mirrors the realities of modern work sites where plumbers, electricians, carpenters, gas fitters and technology specialists work side by side,” NAIT president and CEO Laura Jo Gunter said Monday morning at a news conference. “This learning environment not only builds technical skills, but also those important employability skills like communication, problem solving and teamwork. Students will train the way industry works: collaboratively and with the latest tools and technologies at their fingertips.” Alongside $22 million in provincial dollars for planning in 2024-25, the government funding is the largest financial contribution in NAIT’s history, according to Gunter. Premier Danielle Smith called it an investment in “future proofing” the province and its economy. “We are going to have shortages of trades people. And if we want to grow our economy, if we want to take advantage of the opportunities that we have, we need to grow the number of people that are going into the trades and we need to be world class,” added her advanced education minister, Myles McDougall. According to NAIT, an estimated 700,000 skilled trades professionals are set to retire across the country by 2028. The 58,064-square metre addition, designed by Dialog + GEC, to NAIT’s main campus near Kingsway is expected to cost $779 million. The rest is being funded by NAIT, donors and industry partners. Edmonton-based PCL Construction will be building it.
