Update Centre for Discovery and Innovation

April 3, 2023, marked a monumental day in the history of Cape Breton University when The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities Canada announced a $20 million contribution to the Centre for Discovery and Innovation (CDI).

The new building will house laboratories, classrooms and student services. Its design will enable interactive learning experiences, and through a geothermal closed loop system, solar panels and smart building controls, it will be net-zero ready.

With this funding, and a $35 million contribution from the Province of Nova Scotia, the CDI is shovel-ready. The Centre will change the trajectory of Cape Breton Island and elevate it as a national destination for research and as a global destination for students.

We are very grateful to the Government of Canada and the Province of Nova Scotia for this transformational funding. And, I thank you for your support of this exciting project. All those who signed their name to our CDI petition early on, wrote a letter of support or attended a stakeholder meeting helped us reach this exciting milestone.

The CDI, along with our new medical campus, will make Cape Breton University one of the most innovative, collaborative and modern campuses in the Atlantic region.

Thank you, once again. I look forward to all that is to come and to sharing more information with you as we work to build a campus that will support students, faculty, and the community for generations to come.

Yours very truly,

David C. Dingwall