For generations, downtown Calgary has generated wealth and prosperity for the people of Alberta. But over the past few years, we’ve seen the downtown struggle.

After four years under the UCP, our post-secondary institutions are severely underfunded at a time when we desperately need to be investing in them in order to attract and retain new students. If we don’t, these future leaders will go elsewhere. Now is the time to make this investment and build a better future for our province.

The Alberta NDP is committing up to $200 million for a downtown Calgary campus as part of our broader plan to revitalize the city’s core.

Bringing people together, that’s how we build a better future.

The funding is designed to establish a permanent campus downtown to bring businesses, students, and researchers together to facilitate collaboration and innovation, and support economic diversification. The funding will also be used to provide student housing downtown.

Research indicates that downtown post-secondary campuses spur, on average, the creation of 71 per cent more startup companies, lead to the creation of 123 per cent more inventions and produce 80 per cent more licensing deals when compared with campuses located outside the core.

Bringing students and researchers closer to businesses will support innovation and economic growth, while increasing vibrancy in downtown.

There is a desperate need to build more post-secondary spaces in order to accommodate the surging number of students. We can use the empty space downtown to create these spaces quickly to classrooms and student housing, while increasing vibrancy to the area and supporting economic growth. It just makes sense.

A downtown campus would be the centerpiece of the party’s downtown revitalization strategy.

An Alberta NDP Government will invest in our future leaders and ensure they have the skills needed to succeed.