Oshawa universities, college team up
Schools proposed $237-million health and community studies facility
The University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Trent University and Durham College are teaming up for a proposed $237-million facility for health and community studies that would sit at the northwest corner of Simcoe Road North and Conlin Road.
By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express
The University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Trent University and Durham College are joining forces for a proposed, multi-million dollar facility for health and community studies.
The proposed $237-million Centre for Integrated Health and Community Studies would sit at the northwest corner of Simcoe Street North and Conlin Road, on the north end of the joint UOIT and Durham College campus.
The new facility would be shared by all three schools and is set to be open for the 2023/24 school year.
As well, the proposed centre will “open up opportunities for exciting new collaborations with industry partners that will position Durham Region and Northumberland County as a leader in health-care delivery, services and innovation,” according to a news release announcing the centre.
The new centre is being submitted under the province’s Major Capacity Expansion Framework.
“The government had put out a call for proposals looking for major capital expansion proposals from across the province,” John MacMillan, the director of communications for UOIT, tells The Oshawa Express. “We felt that the proposal we put forward was indicative of the relationship that we have among the college and both universities and our feeling was that this is representative of the kind of partnership that we think the province would be looking for. It’s also something we felt would build on the synergies of our various institutions and also something that would be of benefit to all the people of Ontario and particularly the people of Durham Region.”
MacMillan says UOIT feels strongly that the proposal will be a successful one.
“There were initially 20 proposals submitted from across the province. All of them involved a college working with a university in some fashion or another. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only one that has two universities working together on one project,” he says, adding the province will make an announcement on its decision “when it chooses to do so.”