The Manitoba government is investing $4 million in a campus expansion at the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology (MITT), announced Peter Bjornson, minister of education and advanced learning. Notably, the major project will deliver a new welding shop to the school, which specializes in applied skills training for secondary and post-secondary students .

“This expansion will double the institute’s capacity to train apprenticeship-track industrial welders and give young people more opportunities to learn and develop the skills they need to get the good jobs that are available right here in Manitoba,” said Min. Bjornson.

This latest announcement follows the province’s announcement last year of a fresh mandate for MITT. The fresh mandate established new high school and trades programming as well as new partnerships.

“This investment is a significant step towards supporting our new mandate,” said Paul Holden, CEO and president of MITT. “An expansion to our campus will give us greater capacity to work with our secondary, post-secondary and industry partners to provide state-of-the-art skilled trades training to career-focused students.”

MITT is one of the Manitoba government’s partners in a 2020 goal of increasing the province’s pool of skilled labourers by 75,000 between now and then.

The government’s investment comes as part of a broader skills strategy aimed at connecting students with post-secondary education and quality jobs.