The University of Saskatchewan celebrated the official sign unveiling of its new Prince Albert campus Monday morning.
The new campus, located on the corner of 11th Street East and Central Avenue, is slated to open in the fall of 2020.
U of S President Peter Stoicheff said having an expanded presence in Prince Albert is part of an effort to better serve the university’s Indigenous and northern students.
“It’s also good for our Indigenous students and a large percentage, I think about 55 per cent, of all our students who are already students studying at our Prince Albert locations are Indigenous and this is very important for us to have a far better campus for that reason as well.”
Stoicheff said there are currently about 500 students taking various programs in the city and the university expects this number to increase once the new campus is up and running.
Alyshea Watson is a fourth-year nursing student from the Witchekan Lake First Nation.
Watson said she would not have pursued the program if it was not offered in nearby Prince Albert.
“Being able to be in a small classroom, like the smaller population of students, I felt like I would just be a little face in the crowd (in Saskatoon),” she said. “I’ve been to the U of S for a tour and I just felt so overwhelmed and it was an intimidating place for me.”
Watson also said having all programming located in one central location will be a benefit for the Prince Albert students.
The new campus will offer full degree programs in nursing and education and partial programs in commerce, kinesiology and agronomy.
It will also offer courses to help candidates qualify for university programs in dentistry, law, medicine, nutrition, pharmacy and veterinary medicine.
Last week, the new U of S dental clinic to be located on the Prince Albert campus also received a $1.1 million donation.
(PHOTO: Officials celebrate the official sign unveiling at the new University of Saskatchewan campus in Prince Albert. Photo by Fraser Needham.)