The Town is reminding the Province that it still wholeheartedly supports Wilfrid Laurier University’s plans to create a post-secondary campus in Milton.

At its December 12 meeting, Milton Council unanimously passed a motion reiterating its previous endorsement of Laurier’s submission to the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development for the university.

The resolution also granted Milton CAO Bill Mann the authority to promote Laurier’s plans to the Province in any manner necessary, and made way for an extension of the Memorandum of Understanding previously signed by the Town and Laurier.

Recently, the Province announced that it plans to establish two new university-led post-secondary sites in Milton and Brampton.

The government is expected to issue a Request for Expressions of Interest in January to address the financial and site viability of the campus proposals.

While Wilfrid Laurier University has been working with the Town for more than eight years to develop plans for a Milton campus, the institution isn’t being automatically selected and will have to go through the proposal process.

During last week’s council meeting, Laurier President and Vice Chancellor Dr. Max Blouw expressed his enthusiasm and gratitude for the Town’s partnership regarding the local campus.

“It’s been a very strong partnership. We’ve worked hard together,” he said.

In its submission to the Province, Laurier must detail, amongst other things, its model for a university-college partnership and how its programs align with the government’s preferred focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. The university also needs to include letters of support from the Town, Region, other area municipalities and key community partners.

“It’s really our goal to bring our high-quality academic excellence here,” said Deborah Dubenofsky, executive director and senior project lead for the Milton campus project.