May 10, 2004
New Student Spaces in Post-Secondary Education System
MLA Statement

R. Lee: I was very pleased to attend, with my colleagues, an announcement at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Burnaby this morning, where the Premier committed to bringing in 1,145 new seats to BCIT.

           Many of my constituents are alumni, current or future students of BCIT, a polytechnic institute with over 48,000 full-time and part-time students. The addition of 1,145 new seats will provide more educational opportunities in applied and natural sciences, business and media, computing and electronics, engineering technology, health sciences and trades.

           As a parent to three children, I can attest to the importance of the availability of more seats in the post-secondary institutions. This is not only highly in demand from the students but also driven by our recovering economy as well as the increasing shortage of skilled tradespersons.

           Mr. Speaker, this government has made education a priority and has demonstrated this through its commitments to add 25,000 seats to the post-secondary system by 2010. The BCIT seats are just part of that strategy. Other details include 8,000 additional seats in the Fraser region, including a new SFU campus in Surrey and a new Kwantlen University College Trades and Technology Centre in Cloverdale.

           A new UBC Okanagan and a new Okanagan College will add 5,500 new spaces in the Okanagan Valley. The University College of the Cariboo will become a special purpose university and will assume responsibility for the Open University and Open College, with 800 new seats for the south Cariboo region. The five post-secondary institutions on Vancouver Island will add 4,000 new spaces, and 700 new seats will be added to the College of the Rockies and Selkirk College in the Kootenays.

           This is excellent news for the students. I am looking forward to seeing even more announcements in the months to come.