Ground was broken Tuesday on the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology’s (NAIT) advanced skills centre. Construction of the 58,064-square metre addition to NAIT’s main campus near Kingsway, designed by Dialog + GEC, is expected to cost $779 million. When it opens in 2030, 15,000 students will study at the facility annually and increase the number of apprentices available in Alberta by 5,500 each year. “The modern technology that’s going to be available in this building is really going to make an impact on the future of trade skills training. Taking all of those 29 trades and putting (them) together in one campus is also a really big deal because it allows for collaboration among the trades, too,” said 2017 grad Nathalie Durant after the morning ceremony. The skills centre is the largest project in NAIT history. NAIT president and CEO Laura Jo Gunter called it a testament to the value of skilled trades in Edmonton and Alberta. “You’ve heard of all the major projects that are coming down the line here; all of them are going to need trades to be built, as well as all the schools, hospitals, houses. So this is going to be an incredible investment in the future of both our learners and the province as well,” she said. The Alberta government is contributing $384 million over three years to the project. The rest of the cost is being funded by NAIT, donors and industry partners.
