The Ontario government has provided two Niagara-area post-secondary institutions with more than $6 million in capital funding grants.

Niagara College and Brock University will share in $6,166,900 to help address their deferred maintenance backlog, and undertake critical repairs and upgrades.

Under its Facilities Renewal Program (FRP), the province is providing $2,469,100 to Niagara College and $2,952,800 to Brock University to help address the ongoing need for maintenance, repair, renovation and modernization of existing facilities. The 2020–21 FRP funding represents an increase of more than $1.7 million to Niagara College and $1.4 million to Brock University compared with what each received last year.

The province has expanded its FRP to $466 million over the next three years—including a boost of $73 million for 2020–21—to help post-secondary institutions complete much-needed construction and maintenance work.

“This is very important support for Ontario’s critical post-secondary infrastructure, and at Brock we applaud the vision shown by the provincial government for making this investment,” said Brock University president Dr. Fearon. “Having fully up-to-date and effective education and research facilities is crucial to having the graduates and talent that will help Ontario be one of North America’s most competitive and innovative jurisdictions.”

As part of the College Equipment and Renewal Fund (CERF), the government is also providing $745,000 in capital funding to help Niagara College purchase and renew instructional equipment and learning resources. For 2020-21, CERF funding can also be used to purchase equipment to support student virtual learning during COVID-19.

“We are grateful to the province for the important funding that they have announced today,” said Niagara College president Sean Kennedy. “As we look beyond the pandemic, this investment helps to ensure that our learning environments and equipment will support the critical role that Niagara College will play in the economic recovery of our region.”