Sarnia

No Quick Fix For Kemptville Campus

Lyle Vanclief says Kemptville College was built over many years and it's renewal will not occur overnight.

Vanclief was given the job of consulting and providing advice on the path forward for the Kemptville campus by the provincial government after the University of Guelph announced plans to stop offering programs there.

According to his report, the only agricultural academic program that has potential to be offered at Kemptville in the foreseeable future is an international agricultural school for foreign students.

He suggests such a program would be run by a private company and funded by the students and government of those students.

The Kemptville land base and facilities are owned by the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario.

Vanclief suggests the Institute may wish to give serious consideration to divesting itself of the campus, unless it has the support to become a landlord of the facilities.

His report says there's potential for a non-profit organisation acting as a landlord, manager and potential owner to redevelop and renew the campus as a diverse community and education centre for Eastern Ontario.

However, Vanclief feels that organisation would need partners and some government start-up financial assistance to make that redevelopment and renewal work.

Vanclief's report on Kemptville and another on the Alfred campus are now in the hands of the provincial government.

The three ministers involved, including OMAFRA's Jeff Leal, say they intend to report back with the next steps for each institution by the end of January.

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