Renos to start in the spring; new U of S campus set to open in Fall of 2020

There is no question that students who start their education locally do better when they can start their studies close to home, McDougall added. The university says 47 per cent of students in educational programs in Prince Albert are Indigenous.

“There’s a winning combination there,” she said. “There’s no reason why we couldn’t try to build on that so people in Prince Albert and points north can pursue the kind of degree that they want.”

The University of Saskatchewan has been offering programming in Prince Albert for several years, including in nursing, arts and education. McDougall said adding the dentistry component, with four chairs planned for the start and a future goal of seven, was an opportunity the university couldn’t pass up.

The university announced last March that it had bought the forest centre building. McDougall said the university had been looking to find a space in the city for about five years. She said their new home had already generated interest amongst other program officials with the university who are looking to expand to P.A.

Currently, the forest centre houses a mix of public and private offices and meeting rooms. The university will continue to lease some 30,000 square feet of office space to commercial tenants, and McDougall said talks are still ongoing with existing tenants, although she couldn’t yet say which ones would stay and which ones might move.

“We will honour the terms of the lease agreements,” she added. “We’re not at a point in our history when we can fully occupy this building, so we will be sharing this building with other tenants.”

McDougall said recognizing and supporting Indigenous culture and traditions is key to the success of the plan, and university officials continue to work with leaders across northern Saskatchewan to incorporate their needs and goals into educational programming.

“We view Prince Albert as a gateway. But, we never have said that Prince Albert is north,” McDougall added. “We know it’s a gateway to the north so we need to continue to find ways to establish our presence in academic programming and research in the actual north as well.”

Darwin Roy, executive director of community relations and engagement with the university, said they had been working to travel to and make connections with people in communities across the north. He said having an expanded space for students in Prince Albert makes sense.

“We’re visiting all four corners of the province and making connections with the people, making our presence felt, as a University of Saskatchewan for Saskatchewan,” Roy added.

Excitement Downtown

Mayor Greg Dionne spoke at the event Wednesday evening, saying there is excitement across the city about the possibilities the new campus will bring. The university’s development permit application was approved by Prince Albert city council earlier this week.

“This is one of the most positive things that’s happened to us,” Dionne said. “We’re just so excited.”

Charlene.tebbutt@jbpg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt

by Charlene Tebbutt

Renos to start in the spring; new U of S campus set to open in Fall of 2020

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