George Brown College to open campus on the waterfront

George Brown College has received funding from the Provincial Government to proceed with a new state-of-the art campus in the heart of Waterfront Toronto’s new East Bayfront development. The new facility will help address skills shortages in a variety of industries and provide new opportunities for Ontarians looking for essential training and re-training.

The campus, slated to open in 2011, will house the college’s Centre for Health Sciences, its first student residences and a recreational complex. The waterfront campus will be located on a 0.83 hectare (two-acre) parcel of land located on the south side of Queens Quay Boulevard between Lower Jarvis and Lower Sherbourne Streets.

“George Brown College will join Waterfront Toronto’s revitalization efforts and its new campus will be a cornerstone of the East Bayfront community,” said Mark Wilson, Waterfront Toronto Chairman.

“George Brown officials had been looking for the right location to expand its Centre for Health Sciences and residence for several years, and situating the new campus along the waterfront and in the process helping Waterfront Toronto regenerate the area was an easy decision,” said George Brown College President Anne Sado.

The addition of a waterfront campus to its existing St. James and Casa Loma campuses will increase George Brown’s overall footprint in the city by 40 per cent and support growth of up to 4,000 new students per year. This growth will also help address the forecast shortage of more than 40,000 post-secondary education spaces in the GTA over the next two decades.

“George Brown students will help create a vibrant lakeshore community. East Bayfront will come alive with the student population living, working and socializing during the day, and in the evenings all year round,” said Wilson. “A post secondary institution is a cornerstone of Waterfront Toronto’s East Bayfront master plan and we are pleased to welcome a progressive institution like George Brown College,” added Wilson.

“Visible progress on the waterfront is becoming a reality. Today’s announcement about George Brown College is just one of many exciting developments taking root as we revitalize the lakeshore,” said Wilson.