Milton Education Village Takes a Step Forward

Milton Council has endorsed the conceptual land use plan and policy framework for the Milton Education Village (MEV) lands at their September 10, meeting.  MEV refers to lands located south of Derry Road, west of Tremaine Road and north of Britannia Road, adjacent to the Niagara Escarpment.

MEV will include a 50 acre post-secondary campus  for Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU), and Conestoga College.   WLU President and vice chancellor, Deborah MacLatchy, and vice president finance and administration, Deborah Dubenofsky,provided Council with a brief presentation, and reaffirming their continued partnership extending the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Laurier and Milton for another three years.  The MOU was first signed in 2008.

Milton officially restarted the secondary planning process in 2017.  In January, 2018 the Town held a community meeting, and workshop, the results of which were shared at various Town facilities, and online. “The MEV is being planned as a complete community. That means it will be a place where residents’ daily needs can be met close to their homes, where they can walk, bike, ride transit or travel by car to local jobs, shopping, learning, recreation, entertainment and other amenities,” said Jill Hogan, director policy planning and urban design. “Milton’s preliminary land use concept and framework will guide this vision and support Laurier and Conestoga in establishing an innovative academic centre of excellence within the MEV.

Provincial approval for a post-secondary campus came in April.  The campus will focus on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) programs.   They added their Milton location to a recruitment video being shown to potential students.  Laurier plans to begin offering classes in 2019, and hopes to have its first building in 2021-22.

Click here to read the full report on the Milton Education Village.