BCIT announces $33 million in private funding for Trades and Technology Complex

BURNABY, B.C. – The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) has announced $33 million in private funding has been raised for its new Trades and Technology Complex on its Burnaby, B.C. campus.

Over 45 organizations and individuals contributed towards construction of the $220 million project as part of the BCIT INSPIRE Campaign, a release stated, the largest fundraising campaign in the institution’s history.

“The generosity and support of donors has made this incredible project possible and ensured continued strength in BCIT’s unique offering,” BCIT president Dr. Jeff Zabudsky said in a statment.

“The BCIT curriculum is developed in close consultation with industry, and delivered by faculty with direct, hands-on experience in their fields. The BCIT INSPIRE Campaign will allow us to continue to lead in providing applied learning opportunities. BCIT students learn through practical experience in unique environments that integrate real-world settings, equipment, and technology from the workplace. These include state-of-the-art classrooms, shops, labs, simulators, broadcast studios, green roofs, energy grids, forests, and waterways,” added BCIT School of Construction and the Environment dean Dr. Guido Wimmer.

The new complex will have capacity for 700 new full-time students annually and will allow BCIT to offer more in-person training and increase delivery of immersive training for specialized areas, including mass timber construction and net-zero buildings, the release stated. It will also increase capacity for designing and delivering online training through simulation labs and technology-enabled classrooms.

Key spaces within the complex include the Concert Properties Centre for Trades and Technology, the Robert Bosa Carpentry Pavilion and the Marine and Mass Timber Workshop. Features include Four covered work yards, simulation-based learning areas, a power engineering sim lab–Kongsberg system, a welding simulation lab, and industrial network sim lab–industry partnership space. The building will also have a media centre lab, for remote/online/narrowcasting education delivery, a maker space, classrooms, student commons, demonstration, observation, auxiliary and atrium spaces.

A list of donors involved in the announcement is below: