University College of the North (UCN) will officially open its new campus site on Main Street next month.
Officials with UCN confirmed to The Reminder that a grand opening is in the works for the new Main Street location in early October, helping to kick off a long-anticipated expansion of the college’s nursing programs. The new site, located in the former Nasselquist Jewellers and Sal’s Fitness building at 68 Main Street, will be used to help expand the college’s new diploma in practical nursing (DPN) program.
“The DPN program is a critical program, as practical nurses hold a vital role in the health care system and the graduates from this program are desperately required in the health care system in Manitoba,” said a UCN spokesperson.
“Our graduates proudly take their professional place in health care teams that support the health of northern Manitobans.”
The building was the former home of both Nasselquist Jewellers and Sal’s Fitness before both businesses moved out in 2022 - Sal’s Fitness for the former McMunn and Yates building near City Hall on Park Street, Nasselquist going on hiatus after holding short-term pop-up sales in different locations later that year. UCN reached terms to rent the space from Nasselquist and expand the school’s DPN program, using the Main Street building in addition to the school’s current campus on Second Avenue, shared with the Northern Manitoba Mining Academy. UCN reached terms to rent the whole building from its owner to host the program.
UCN hosts a two-year DPN program in Flin Flon. The school also offers a bachelor of nursing as a four-year program, working in partnership with the Univ. of Manitoba, but only in The Pas and Thompson. In 2021, an influx of provincial funding allowed the number of training seats for the two-year program to double in Flin Flon, going from 14 to 28.
The project has taken longer than anticipated to prepare. When the school announced it would move into the building back in 2022, officials hoped it could be open by the winter term in 2023. The opening is almost two years behind schedule, but UCN representatives confirmed to The Reminder earlier this year that classes would start being held at the Main Street site later this year.
