Renovations at Assiniboine’s Victoria Avenue East building support college’s continued growth

Renovations at Assiniboine Community College’s Victoria Avenue East campus will see the college’s Adult Collegiate relocated and a new Centre for Creative Media, which will house three new creative media diploma programs.

“In 2016, we welcomed an offer from the provincial government to put unused space at our Victoria Avenue East to use,” said Mark Frison, president at Assiniboine.

This has allowed us to better serve learners, industry, and the community during a time of immense growth.

Assiniboine’s growth strategy has resulted in a 58 per cent increase in the number of graduates since 2013. The college’s strategic direction has a stated goal of 2,028 graduates by 2028.

“Bringing our Adult Collegiate into the fold at the Victoria Avenue East campus will allow us to collocate services for students, allowing adult learners to access the full range of supports easily in one place,” said Kate Pelletier, Dean of Trades and Access Programs at Assiniboine.

Innovative new learning spaces will be home to Assiniboine’s three new creative media programs—Digital Art and Design; Media and Communications; and Web and Interactive Development—inside a 10,050-square-foot facility. Construction on both the Adult Collegiate relocation and Centre for Creative Media projects will be underway by the end of this month with plans to have the spaces ready to welcome students this fall.

“New and enhanced learning spaces mean greater opportunities for students to access post-secondary education in in-demand fields of interest,” said Wayne Ewasko, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration.

Economic growth in Manitoba relies on post-secondary programs that align with the labour market and building industry partnerships that inform this alignment.

These rejuvenation and expansion projects follow on the heels of other renovations the college has undertaken in the past several years including the Public Safety Training Centre (2016), Food Processing Centre (2019) and Assiniboine Early Learning Centre (2019). The current renovations are expected to cost approximately $6 million and will be funded using the college’s financial reserves.

“These investments into the Victoria Avenue East campus are supporting programming that is meeting the labour market needs in the Westman region,” said Reg Helwer, Minister of Central Services and MLA for Brandon West.

We will continue to work collaboratively with our institutions to further support student success.