Olds college’s W.J. Elliot Building is the latest investment in the Government of Alberta’s efforts to bolster skilled trades programming across the province.
In an effort to address the growing need for apprentices and skilled journeymen across the province, Alberta’s government invested $25 million to facilitate the expansion and renovation of the W.J. Elliot building at Olds College.
Olds College President and CEO Debbie Thompson says the funding bump will allow the school to deliver “best-in-class” experiences for students through expanded classroms, new equipment, and potentially, new programs.
“What it means for students and Albertans is we will have updated our facilities and modernize them in a way that allows us to bring in new technology, new opportunities, we will be able to expand programming for both our post-secondary students as well as our dual credit students,” she says. “[We] heard the minister allude to, perhaps the opportunity to introduce new apprenticeship and trades programming, and we would welcome that, we are building the facilities in a way that will allow for that.”
The project will add more than 440 new seats for trades programming upon its completion, along with an additional 100 seats for dual-credit trades programs- something Alberta Minister of Advanced Education Rajan Sawhney says is a significant priority for the province in the future.
“We are placing a tremendous emphasis on the high schools, and my colleague Demetrious Nicolaides is looking at collegiates and investing in dual credit programs,” she says.
“We have huge numbers of dual credit students that we serve year over year, so this investment from the province will allow us to increase the number of students and increase their particular experience at Old’s College,” President Thompson adds.
The entire investment carries a $63 million price tag; however, shovels are already in the ground at the campus, and construction for this phase of the project is expected to be completed by spring 2027.
