The Honourable Steven Fletcher, Minister of State (Democratic Reform), and the Honourable Diane McGifford, Manitoba Minister of Advanced Education and Literacy, were at Red River College in Winnipeg today to tour the school’s expanded landscape construction shop and greenhouses, which will give students modern new facilities for hands-on training in their field.
The federal and provincial governments each contributed $525,000 toward this $1,050,000 project as part of the Knowledge Infrastructure Program.
“We are investing in research and training facilities at campuses across the country to create jobs, help our economy recover quickly and improve the quality of life of Canadians,” said Minister of State Fletcher. “This investment created local jobs and helped improve Red River College’s research infrastructure, providing benefits now and for years to come.”
“The Manitoba Government is pleased to have the opportunity to partner with the federal government to complete exciting projects such as the greenhouses and landscape construction shop at RRC,” said Minister McGifford. “In Manitoba, all of our public post-secondary institutions have benefited from joint investments like this one.”
The work led to the creation of two greenhouses and a 2,900-square-metre landscape construction shop, which will give students indoor facilities where they can get hands-on training experience in drainage, irrigation and arboricultural systems. The new facilities also open the door to more applied research partnerships with industry.
“The completion of the greenhouses and landscape construction shop will provide modern new learning space for our Greenspace Management program, and allow us to explore innovative applied research opportunities with the horticulture industry,” explained Stephanie Forsyth, President of Red River College.
In addition to the landscape and greenhouse facilities, the new complex includes storage for the College’s groundskeeping equipment and a staging area for its mobile training labs.