Vancouver Community College (VCC) is moving forward with its new Centre for Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation with $271.3 million funding from the B.C. government.
The centre at the Broadway campus will provide education and skills training for people in British Columbia and Red-Seal-certified apprentices of modern automotive trades to support our growing green economy, including electric, hydrogen fuel cell, plug-in and autonomous vehicles. The new state-of-the-art training facility will accommodate as many as 1,400 students each year with new programs in clean-energy technology, light rail and zero-emissions vehicle repair and technology.
The number of registered light-duty EVs in B.C. has increased from 5,000 in 2016 to more than 100,000 today. The new centre will help train skilled trades workers to keep up with demand as the province moves to make 100 per cent of all vehicles sold in B.C. zero-emission vehicles.
“Skilled trades workers are in high demand and are critical to ensuring the economy remains strong and we build a sustainable and inclusive economy that leaves no one behind,” said Selina Robinson, minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills. “As we work to fill more than one million jobs over the next decade, the Centre for Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation is a big, responsive step in equipping British Columbians with the knowledge and skills they need today to succeed in the high-paying, in-demand jobs of tomorrow’s economy and labour market.”
The total capital cost of the project will be $291.3 million. The concrete eight-storey, 31,943 square metre (343,832 square feet) building will include exposed mass timber in the atrium and is expected to create 1,407 direct and 672 indirect jobs during construction.
Stantec is providing architecture, interior design and engineering services. The firm is also designing to achieve LEED and Rick Hansen Foundation Gold certifications. Two Row Architect is the Indigenous design collaborator and RJC Engineering is providing structural engineering as well as sustainability and building performance consulting.
