Community Partners gather for cutting of the rope to signify the ground breaking of the newest facility to be built on the grounds of the Canadore Aviation Campus. PHOTO BY CHRIS DAWSON.
Construction of Canadore College’s new Advanced Composites Fabrication, Repair and Test Centre (ARC-TC) facility has officially begun as an official rope cutting ceremony took place outside the Canadore Aviation Campus Friday morning.
The Centre will add to the existing purpose-built Aviation Technology Campus erected adjacent to the North Bay Jack Garland Airport in 2005.
“We’ve come a very long way in over 40 years of aviation training,” said George Burton, President and CEO of Canadore College in a release.
“Canadore’s specialized ARC-TC facility poises our region to be able to support the projected growth of the aviation, aerospace and space sectors in Canada and across the globe. We are pleased to make this announcement today thanks to the gracious support we have received from our community and our provincial and federal partners.”
According to Burton, ARC-TC will have the ability to support innovative research, industrial applications, testing services, business incubation and more.
The Centre will be home to new academic resources such as two advanced composites laboratories, a non-destructive test (NDT) lab and training aids such as a walk-in curing oven, a magnetic particle inspection station and a liquid penetrant inspection line that will enhance current aviation programming and create capacity for new programs.
Game Changer for the Region
MP Jay Aspin believes the expansion only makes sense with North Bay already having key assets such as Canadore College, the 10,000 foot runway and NORAD in place.
“We have a history of Aerospace and Aviation in the North Bay area so it’s a natural for us to expand that government priority sector,’’ said Aspin.
“I believe this will be a game changer for the region. The government of Canada has defined Aerospace and indeed space as a priority sector and it is willing to invest in that sector, to grow that sector. We have with this composite facility, we will have a state-of-the-art facility that will attract numerous companies, not only in aerospace but also in automotive.”
Back in June, Aspin announced funding for a partnership between Canadore Aviation and Swiss Space Systems (S3) as part of a $10 million project that will see the development of a composite materials facility followed by the launch of private sector sub-orbital satellites from the region.
Partnerships a Key
Mayor Al McDonald believes Canadore is moving in the right direction.
"When you think about building success you need partners and Canadore College is a leader in training future workers in the skilled trades that industry and business need," said McDonald.
"We signalled back in 2012 that we are going after the Aviation-Aerospace sector very hard with the Airport Business Park but we need the skilled trades as well and this is where Canadore comes into play.
"We are going after the jobs that we know are going to be there in 20 years time and we are building that critical mass to make sure that we are positioned extremely well for success and today just goes one step further as a piece of the puzzle that we need to build this sector and be very successful."
Burton, who was joined by McDonald, MP Jay Aspin and MPP Vic Fedeli's wife Patti, adds this initiative is all about partnerships.
"This takes the support of all 3 levels of government, the city of North Bay, the province and the federal government and a lot of hard working staff behind the scenes from Canadore so it takes a collective effort to make things like this happen, especially we think that we are going to be one of the few non-destructive testing centres anywhere in Ontario and the only one in the north that I am aware of," he said.
Burton says Kenalex will begin construction on Monday and the shell of the facility will be complete by the spring. He expects the construction to be complete by September which will allow the school to add at least 40 new students to the program.
