U of A receives $100 million investment in Biological Sciences building renovation
A renovation of the building is "long overdue," Minister of Advanced Education Rajan Sawhney says.
Arthur MacatangayOn April 14, Minister of Advanced Education Rajan Sawhney announced a three-year $100 million investment in the redevelopment of the University of Alberta’s Biological Sciences building as a part of Budget 2025. The building will be renamed to the Life Sciences Innovation and Future Technologies (LIFT) Centre.
The announcement took place in the Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science (CCIS). Sawhney was joined by U of A President and Vice-chancellor Bill Flanagan, and College Dean and Vice-provost of natural and applied sciences Matina Kalcounis-Rueppell.
“For more than 50 years, this critical branch of science education has operated out of the Biological Science building, which has become a landmark at the [U of A’s] North Campus,” Sawhney said. “But the building has never received any major renovations and is long overdue.”
The LIFT Centre is expected to double laboratory spaces. The renovation will add seats for nearly 2,500 new domestic undergraduate students in the faculty of science and nearly 700 new domestic, thesis-based graduate students in the faculties of science and agriculture, life, and environmental sciences (ALES).
“Alberta’s government will make an investment of $100 million with $30 million starting in the 2025–26 budget year, and with the university contributing funding for the first phase of construction, we’ll see shovels in the ground very soon,” Sawhney said.
According to the U of A’s 2024–27 Capital Plan, the government’s investment of $100 million for phase one of construction means that the university will pay $118.7 million for phase one, totalling $218.7 million. The project has five phases and is expected to cost $500 million.
Flanagan expressed his appreciation for Sawhney who visited the building and “saw for herself the potential of this building to continue to drive remarkable research for the [U of A].”
“The research and the discoveries of the LIFT Centre will advance Alberta’s position as a global leader in STEM and life sciences research and education,” he said.
He added that the development of the LIFT Centre aligns with the university’s 10-year strategic plan SHAPE, which “calls on the university to grow its size and its transformational impact.”
“This capital investment comes at the right time. The LIFT Centre will help keep Alberta at the forefront of innovation.”
