On Monday morning, the Government of Alberta announced that it will be funding $384 million over three years to help build NAIT’s Advanced Skills Centre (ASC) — an official movement from the building’s modern design concept to its construction phase.
The ASC will train 15,000 students across 29 NAIT programs and apprenticeships each year, and the facility will foster a hands-on, cross-industry environment that prepares students for the workforce.
“This is where personal ambitions will meet public plans for an even better province,” said premier Danielle Smith during the official announcement, which took place on NAIT’s Main Campus.
“Tens of thousands of students will secure their dream jobs, and the Advanced Skills Centre will become a major engine of opportunity and prosperity.”
“We want to ensure that every young person knows that a career in the trades holds just as much value as a bachelor’s degree.”
The ASC is set to be completed in 2030, and NAIT aims to welcome students from construction, transportation, manufacturing and energy programs in the fall of the same year.
Essential to Alberta
The ASC will address Alberta’s growing demand for skilled trades professionals by encouraging Albertans to pursue education in the skilled trades, something Smith says the United Conservative Party has been working towards since being elected in 2019.
“We want to ensure that every young person knows that a career in the trades holds just as much value as a bachelor’s degree,” said Smith. “Our government is fully committed to supporting the trades to ensure that our province has the skilled workers we need now and for decades to come.”
Alberta’s minister of advanced education, Myles McDougall, said the ASC will also “expand opportunities for youth, newcomers, women and Indigenous learners to explore careers in the skilled trades.”
“Tens of thousands of students will secure their dream jobs, and the Advanced Skills Centre will become a major engine of opportunity and prosperity.”
Laura Jo Gunter, NAIT president and CEO, thanked the Alberta government for their support and expressed how trades and technology are part of the polytechnic’s core — and the province’s backbone.
“The Alberta government understood the Advanced Skills Centre’s value proposition and the impact it would have,” said Gunter.
NAIT is also funding the construction through support from industry partners and donors, as well as internal resource allocation, — but Gunter said the $384 million investment from the Alberta government is “historic.”
“Today’s announcement is the largest, most consequential support in our [NAIT’s] history.”
Designing and constructing the Advanced Skills Centre
After a site-blessing on May 1, early construction for the ASC will begin in the coming weeks. The new building will be 625,000 square feet — bigger than the CAT building, which sits at 550,000 square feet.
The ASC was designed by DIALOG and GEC Architecture and will be built by PCL Construction. GEC Architecture designed MacEwan University’s downtown business school building, which is set to be completed in 2027. DIALOG, the architects behind Edmonton’s Walterdale Bridge and Valley Line LRT, designed the 2018 Royal Alberta Museum.
These NAIT partners are not unfamiliar with designing and building large, state-of-the-art facilities — even ones that are equivalent to 36 NHL ice rinks, like the ASC.
In fact, PCL Construction did build an NHL ice rink: Rogers Place, ten years ago.
PCL Construction was chosen as NAIT’s construction manager after a competitive procurement process, said NAIT.
“We have over 100 employees in Edmonton alone today and over 300 NAIT graduates across Alberta. So this is a very prideful moment for all of us.”
The major Edmonton-based construction company is a long-time supporter of the polytechnic, funding scholarships for 22 NAIT students each year.
PCL Construction’s regional vice president, Alistair McKnight, said it is “super exciting” to be partnering with NAIT to build the ASC. It’s an important project for Edmonton and for Alberta, he told the Nugget.
“The work of this project is super important to us. We’ve hired lots of people who have come out as graduates from … multiple programs at NAIT,” said McKnight.
“We have over 100 employees in Edmonton alone today and over 300 NAIT graduates across Alberta. So this is a very prideful moment for all of us.”
McKnight said NAIT staff and students will see construction progress start over the summer months, and suspects the ASC will begin to look like a “familiar construction project” in the fall.
He added that it’s important for NAIT students to understand the significance of their training and education when it comes to Alberta’s future.
“There’s a huge demand for a skilled workforce in the province, and this project will help support that,” said McKnight.
For more information about the ASC, visit NAIT’s website.
Feature image by Alleah Boisvert / The Nugget
