Government continues to invest in public post-secondary institutions

Sandra C. Kelly, Minister of Youth Services and Post-Secondary Education, has announced funding for several new and existing initiatives at the College of the North Atlantic and Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN).

In March 2000, $6.5 million was announced to expand the Prince Philip Drive campus of the College of the North Atlantic and to purchase equipment to accommodate the Health Sciences program currently housed at the Topsail Road campus. This year, another $1.6 million is being provided for new classrooms and a new library at Prince Phillip Drive. The new funding brings the College of the North Atlantic�s provincial government operating and capital grant to $52.8 million for 2001-2002 from $38.3 million in 1997-1998, an increase of 38 per cent over the four year period.

Five hundred thousand dollars has been allocated to MUN and the College of the North Atlantic to lever additional support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The CFI is an independent corporation established by the federal government in 1997 to promote innovation in research infrastructure at Canadian universities and colleges and to increase their capability to carry out world-class research and development in areas of science, engineering and the environment.

The provincial government is continuing with its commitment to Memorial University�s Opportunity Fund in this year�s budget. In 1995, government agreed to match private sector contributions up to $25 million. At the end of 1999, private sector commitments had increased to $29 million, which government agreed to match on a schedule of payments. This budget provides $3 million to the Memorial University Opportunity Fund, bringing government�s total payments to date to $21.3 million.

The total provincial government operating and capital grant to Memorial University, which includes the Medical School, has increased over the past four years, from $120.6 million in

1997-1998 to $140 million in 2001- 2002. A recent report of the Council of Ontario Universities showed that Newfoundland and Labrador�s per student operating grant to Memorial University was ranked highest of all Canadian provinces in eight of the last 12 years, including the most recent year for which data are available.

Minister Kelly said she was pleased with the funding increases. "The announcements we have made today in funding for post-secondary institutions shows that we�ve listened to what the people of the province have been saying. An educated population is critical to the development of our economic and social well-being. These initiatives underscore government�s continued commitment to investing in our public post-secondary system and helping to create new opportunities for the people of our province."

Media contact: Jackie Simon, Communications, (709) 729-6573.

2001 03 22 4:55 p.m.