President and CEO of Saskatchewan Polytechnic says one in 19 jobs in Saskatchewan are connected to students, former students and alumni. Dr. Larry Rosia says last year’s graduate employment rate was 95 per cent and for Indigenous graduates, it was 92 per cent. He spoke at a North Saskatoon Business Association luncheon and told attendees there will be a sod turning later this year for the new Joseph A. Remai Saskatoon campus, which will be on University of Saskatchewan land next to Innovation Place.

Right now, there are 11 buildings across the city which house Sask Poly students. Dr. Rosia says the new campus will bring all students, staff and faculty to one spot. It means better availabilities for collaboration among their programs, and also better opportunities for working with the university and with all of technology and research companies at Innovation Place. There is no set timeline for when the campus will open but the rough estimate is that it is still a few years away. Right now, staff are working with project engineers to figure out what is needed for the learning spaces.

The campus with its three buildings will open in stages. Rosia says the first will be Trades and Technology, followed by Health Sciences and then the third will be an Innovation storefront for applied research and will also house student supports. The Time to Rise fundraising campaign is over halfway to its goal of $100 million for the Joseph A. Remai Saskatoon campus.