York U set to open Markham campus in 2023
Project revived after province nixed funding for construction in 2018
York Region is finally getting its own ivory tower.
York University will open a campus in Markham in 2023.
The Ford government pulled the plug two years ago on helping to fund its construction.
But the province has now pledged to provide funding once students arrive.
York’s campus in Markham will be the first public university in York Region and will have room for 4,200 students.
Shortly after taking office, in 2018, the province cancelled three post-secondary construction projects, including the Markham campus. Since then, York , city and regional officials have secured monies and fundraised to revive it. New Democratic MPP Chris Glover said “the people of Markham and York University have stepped up to fill a gap created when Doug Ford scrapped planned university campuses in Markham, Brampton and Milton.”
Premier Doug Ford’s “refusal to fund this incredibly important campus extension sends the troubling message to universities and colleges that this government will never invest in building, repairing, expanding or making more accessible university and college campuses,” Glover said.
But, on Friday, Ford called the push a “new, innovative approach to financing college and university expansions.”
Instead “of the province writing multimillion-dollar cheques, we have developed a system that encourages the development of new campuses with a much smaller cost to the taxpayer,” he added.
Construction on the new, $275.5-million campus starts this month on the two-hectare site near Kennedy Road, north of Highway 407.
York University president Rhonda Lenton said “the Markham Centre Campus will offer professionally relevant degree programs and micro-credentials with a strong focus on digital technologies, entrepreneurship and experiential education in high demand areas, such as business and entrepreneurship, data analytics, new media and communications.”
Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said Ford had reversed “the reckless decision he made two years ago.”
“While it’s never the wrong time to do the right thing, this is yet another flip-flop decision that cost valuable time, money and resources. Ford lost two years and has set-back the state of post-secondary education in one of the fastest growing regions in the province.”