Education
Oshawa makes hitting the books as easy as 1-2-3. We are home to one college and two universities that have all announced expansion plans. Other good news is that the new LHEARN Centre (at Lakeridge Health Oshawa) will be the academic site of the Queen’s University Family Medicine residency program.
Durham College
Durham College will soon be home to one of the most comprehensive and all-encompassing Student Services buildings in the province. Scheduled for completion in March 2011, the new building (located on Simcoe Street North, south of Conlin Road) will enable the college to relocate most of its student services to one convenient location. This will allow the college to renovate and modernize existing space to create new teaching areas that can accommodate larger classes as well as new student study space. Durham College has been part of the Oshawa community for more than 40 years and offers approximately 100 full-time programs including Game Development (focuses on 2- and 3-D game prototyping) and the highly acclaimed Practical Nursing program. For details, visit www.durhamcollege.ca or call 905-721-2000.
Trent University
The new Trent University Oshawa Thornton Road Campus opened its doors to students in September 2010. The modern, new campus on Thornton Road is over 50,000 square feet, including 15,000 square feet of new construction. A new lecture theatre, lecture hall, student commons area and full-service library are among many of the upgrades and additions to the interior of the completely wi-fi facility. Students, staff and faculty will also benefit from free parking, the option to purchase an athletic membership at the newly renovated Oshawa Civic Recreation Complex next door and access to municipal transit services to downtown Oshawa as well as the Durham College/UOIT campus. For details, visit www.trentu.ca/oshawa or call 905-721-3003.
UOIT
Established in 2003, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) delivers a leading-edge learning environment that combines academic knowledge, undergraduate research opportunities and hands-on skills training. The General Motors of Canada Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE) and the new Energy Research Centre (ERC) are currently under construction on UOIT’s north Oshawa campus. ACE will be the first commercial research, development and innovation centre of its kind in Canada. The ERC is scheduled to open in 2011 and will train future energy scientists and nuclear engineers while enabling research in the development of clean and green energy and technology.
Furthermore, Oshawa’s downtown has established itself as a centre for academic excellence with the development of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology’s (UOIT) downtown campus. In addition to the Faculty of Education at 11 Simcoe Street North, the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities is now operating out of various buildings in the downtown, including a new 30,000-square-foot, five-storey building, the restored Alger Press building, McLaughlin Square and labs in the CIBC building, while the restored Regent Theatre serves as a lecture hall. UOIT's Faculty of Social Science and Humanities students alternate between their faculty buildings to study and attend classes and labs. In addition, they will have convenient access to the new Durham Region Courthouse. For information, visit www.uoit.ca or call 905-721-8668.
Queen’s University
A new health-care training facility at Lakeridge Health Oshawa hospital will open in 2011. Queen’s University is investing $1 million to help build the $6.6 million Lakeridge Health Education and Research Network (LHEARN Centre) that will train doctors, nurses and other health professionals. The Centre will be home to the new Queen’s satellite Family Medicine residency two-year program and support physician recruitment in the region. For details, visit www.lakeridgehealth.on.ca or call 905-576-8711, ext. 4574.
