When one door shuts another door opens. That seems to be the case with the recent news that the Whitby campus of Durham College is getting $9 million in provincial funds for a 40,000 sq. ft. major expansion. Hot on the heels of the disturbing news of layoffs at General Motors of Canada in Oshawa, and the planned shut down of the truck plant here next year, now comes some good news.

It is the form of more government funding for a better retraining facility. The Whitby campus of Durham College, which is a former factory located along Hwy. 401 that ceased operations some years ago, is a retraining facility that helps people learn a new trade and to get back on their feet again after some retraining. The Durham College Skills Training Centre, established in 1993, has more than 200,000 square-feet of shops, classes and student services located on 29 acres. It now serves about 1,600 apprentices, 120 youth apprentice students and 670 post-secondary students. Since its inception, more than 20,000 apprentices have completed the in-school portion of their program prior to joining the Ontario labour market.

Now, with the expansion, the school will be able to handle more students and more programs. This is good news for the area because the expansion itself is substantial and will offer some much-needed work for local trades people. And the added space will mean more students can utilize the important retraining programs offered through the local college.

There has been some good news lately for the local labour market, with the awarding of the expansion of two new reactors for the Darlington nuclear generating facility just east of Oshawa. This will provide local trades people will plenty of good-paying jobs. And now this announcement of the expansion of the college’s retraining centre. Although there is always hope that the GM truck plant can be saved, things are not looking good. If the plant does close, there will be some former autoworkers who will be looking for jobs.

And while they are looking for employment, they can take advantage of retraining and end up with a good paying job as a skilled tradesman or even start their own business. Statistics indicate there is a short of skilled trades people, and some construction projects are delayed because of this labour shortage. Even the country’s immigration policy is being shaped to better find these much-needed trades people from elsewhere in the world, to shore up holes in the Canadian labour force.

Now, with the new funding, the provincial government has stepped up to fill the void.“This is a big day for Durham College,” says president Don Lovisa. “I’m proud of the role that Durham College plays in the community.”

This sentiment was echoed by provincial officials. Over the next decade up to 57,000 skilled workers will retire, according to John Malloy, minister of training, colleges and universities.“We need skilled workers,” he says. “We need individuals who will have the skills to face tomorrow’s technology.

(This expansion) will be very good for Durham College.” Yes, this is certainly good news for Durham College, but it is also good news for the local job market, and for the entire province as a whole.