SHIPPAGAN (GNB) – The provincial government is investing $4 million in the addition of a new annex to the main building of the Université de Moncton, Shippagan Campus, to improve the delivery of services to students at the Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick, Péninsule acadienne Campus. The investment is part of an overall project totalling $11 million.

“Our investment in this major project will stimulate the construction sector, create jobs on the Acadian Peninsula and provide better services to the students and the community,” said Premier David Alward.

“This co-location project means the addition of physical space on the campus and the significant improvement of existing infrastructure, but more importantly, it will enrich the lives of the university and college students and make it possible to develop complementary training and services for the benefit of the people in the north of the province,” said Université de Moncton president Raymond Théberge.

Funding from the Northern New Brunswick Economic Development and Innovation Fund will be used to enlarge the university's Irène-Léger building by 2,250 sq. meters (25,000 sq. feet) in order to better meet the needs of the college.

“This project, valued at close to $11 million, will have economic spinoffs and educational benefits on the Acadian Peninsula and in northeast New Brunswick,” said Natural Resources Minister Paul Robichaud, who is also minister responsible for the Regional Development Corporation.

The programs of the community college, Péninsule acadienne Campus, are currently offered at six different sites. The consolidation project will make it possible to offer all the programs and services at two sites: the one in Shippagan for vocational and technical training, and the one in Caraquet, at the School of Fisheries.

“The Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick is focused on the success of its student population,” said Liane Roy, president and chief executive officer of the college. “Access to a wider range of support services, coupled with an excellent education, will help to enrich the students' lives. Daily contact with the university students, sharing the same services, enjoying an even more dynamic student life - these are all reasons that the community college welcomes this project for the Péninsule acadienne Campus.”

The project is expected to create 145 jobs; 20 jobs in design and 125 jobs in construction.


29-05-14