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Loyalist College Commends Province

March 30, 2011

Loyalist College is pleased with the provincial budget’s funding for literacy, instructional equipment and 60,000 new post-secondary places, as outlined in the 2011-2012 Ontario budget.

“The government is equipping Ontario colleges to train the graduates we need to grow the province’s economy for the future,” said Loyalist President Maureen Piercy.

“It is vital that we support students in achieving high-quality post-secondary education as well as basic skills and literacy, and that we provide them with the equipment they need, to develop the cutting edge job skills required by employers.  We look forward as a community college to supporting the government in delivering these initiatives.”

Funding commitments to post-secondary institutions and students include:

  • $44 million over three years for literacy and basic skills.
  • $20 million in instructional equipment for 2011-2012.
  • $64 million in 2011-2012, rising to $309 million in 2013-2014 for operating grants for an additional 60,000 post-secondary places by 2015-2016.
  • An additional $22.5 million this year for the Summer Jobs Strategy, which targets youth in high-needs neighbourhoods. 

“The government is acting now to ensure our future is not one of jobs without people and people without jobs,” said President Piercy. “This budget will increase the number of Ontarians with post-secondary credentials, in order to have the skilled population Ontario needs to create greater prosperity. Certainly, that multi-year commitment is going to give us a lot of increased skills capacity and we know that it’s important for the economic recovery ahead,” she said.

The budget also includes a commitment to create renewed multi-year accountability agreements, which ensure that post-secondary institutions will continue to operate efficiently and transparently.

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Media Contact:  Dianne Spencer, Executive Director, College Advancement & External Relations, Loyalist College, (613) 969-1913, ext. 2235

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