York is in line to receive $12.6 million from the Ontario government for campus renewal projects, part of $200 million the government announced yesterday for publicly-funded universities and colleges across the province.
The funding is for improving safety and security systems, maintaining and repairing existing infrastructure and increasing the University’s energy efficiency, including conservation, health and safety and environmental concerns. Queens Park said it is up to the universities and colleges to decide how they want to allocate the funds depending on their priorities in these three areas.
"This funding will enable us to make immediate investments on pressing capital-related projects that will ultimately benefit our students," said York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri in welcoming the announcement. "We are grateful to the government of Ontario for supporting our ongoing initiatives aimed at renewing and modernizing our infrastructure to provide a more effective learning environment where research and higher learning can thrive."
The announcement was part of the $1.4 billion infrastructure fund announced in the province's Fall Economic Statement. Funding was allocated based on established assessments of each institution's needs.
York received the second highest amount of renewal project funding among 11 universities and colleges in the Greater Toronto Area, which were given a total of $75 million. The University of Toronto was awarded $25.6 million, while Ryerson University was third at $6.9 million.