SNP receives $5 million investment from Canada and Ontario

BRANTFORD – Canadians will be better equipped for the well-paying middle-class jobs of today and tomorrow as a result of a $5 million investment in Six Nations Polytechnic.

This joint federal-provincial investment was announced on Tuesday, November 8 by Bryan May, member of parliament for Cambridge, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, minister of innovation, science and economic development. MP May was joined at the event by the Honourable Dave Levac, member of provincial parliament for Brant.

“We all know the stats, we all know the dropout rate for indigenous students high,” said Levac. “Yes this is a funding announcement, but its more than that, its a celebration of what we can accomplish when we all come together.

“Todays celebration — I’m so proud to stand here to look out and see the kind of problem solving were doing with today’s issue. So I want to congratulate Polytech. I want to congratulate all of the partners. I want to congratulate you because you focused on on finding a solution to an identified problem — and the unidentified problem is easy — we’ve got unemployment, we’ve got under-education, and it needs to get delivered.

The government of Canada’s Innovation Agenda aims to make this country a global centre for innovation — one that creates jobs, drives growth across all industries and improves the lives of all Canadians. This investment is a prime example of that vision in action.

“Investment for our Brantford campus is key to meeting demand for post-secondary education and trades-training wile supporting enhanced collaboration among community partners,” said Linda Parker, director of institutional advancement for Six Nations Polytechnic. “Six Nations Polytechnic will reduce operating costs, achieved by energy efficiencies and develop vital infrastructure and resources that are foundational to transformational learning. Our modernization project allows Six Nations Polytechnic, in partnership, to prepare more learners to serve our local communities in a variety of sectors.”

The funding will support Celebrating Resilience, which will create new spaces for industry driven educational programs and innovative research, and meets the demand for conference venues and tourism in the community. The facility expansion and modernization positions Six Nations Polytechnic as a premier destination for learners, scholars, researchers and elite athletes. The funding will directly support holistic education, workforce development, energy efficiencies, sustainable programming, partnership and positive relations between indigenous and non-indigenous people.

The funding from the Government of Canada is being allocated through the Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund, which will enhance and modernize research facilities on Canadian campuses and improve sustainability of these facilities.

Six Nations Elected Councillor Wray Maracle and Elected Chief Ava Hill came from Six Nations to the funding announcement.

“I really look forward to 2017 when you get all your students here and it’s bustling,” said Hill. “Once it’s operating at full-speed it will be equal to a number of the post-secondary institutions that we have in this province.”

“This is just one more step on to our path to become Six Nations University,” she said.

As a result of these investments, students, professors and researchers will work in state-of-the-art facilities that advance the country’s best research. They will collaborate in specially designed spaces that support lifelong learning and skills training. They will work in close proximity with partners to turn discoveries into products or services. In the process, they will train for — and invent — the high-value jobs of the future. And their discoveries will plant the seeds for the next generation of innovators.

That is how the Strategic Investment Fund will jump-start a virtuous circle of innovation, creating the right conditions for long-term growth that will yield benefits for generations to come.

Ontario is making the largest investment in public infrastructure in the province’s history — about $160 billion throughout 12 years — which is supporting 110,000 jobs every year across the province with projects such as hospitals, schools, roads, bridges and transit. Since 2015, the Province has announced support for more than 475 projects that will keep people and goods moving, connect communities and improve quality of life.

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