NAIT receives funding for new Productivity and Innovation Centre

Construction will begin shortly on NAIT’s Productivity and Innovation Centre (PIC), a facility designed to help industry grow and become more globally competitive.

Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities (on behalf of Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development), today announced $34.98 million in support of the centre, through the federal government’s Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund.

NAIT will invest more than $45 million in this project, collaborating with the Government of Canada and industry partners.

“Our goal is to make every Canadian innovation ready,” said Sohi, who called the funding a “historic investment” that will also give the provincial economy a boost.

PIC will focus on 3 areas: 

  • Productivity enhancement
  • Prototype development
  • Applied research and innovation
     

Expected to open in 2018, the 17,650-square-metre (190,000-square-foot) building will also be the new home of the NAIT Shell Manufacturing Centre, with space for applied research centres and more. It will be located at the east end of Main Campus (near the 118 Avenue traffic circle).

“The funding provided by the Government of Canada will be transformative for our institution, our province and our country,” said Dr. Glenn Feltham, NAIT president and CEO. “It allows us to invite industry in to become more productive, and help industry go from small to big.”

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