Kobayashi + Zedda Architects Ltd. will design the new Centre for Northern Innovation in Mining building at Yukon College.
The firm emerged ahead of five other bids for the contract.
Plans for the design and construction of the building was announced last year by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Yukon Premier Darrell Pasloski.
The Yukon government has spent more than $11 million to the centre over five years. The funding, divided into capital and programming, allowed the centre to offer a range of courses, including heavy equipment operation and underground mine training. The centre received $5.6 million in federal money.
Most programs offered by the centre are new. Previously offered programs have been expanded to offer full apprenticeship training. The centre aims to deliver a Yukon-specific solution to the current and future skilled labour shortage facing the territory’s mining industry.
The centre also has a mobile trades training trailer to offer training in smaller communities across the territory, as well as at operating mine sites.
The centre will be able to serve an expected 1,234 students over six years if all the funding comes through.
Design of the new building is expected to take up to six months, with construction slated to begin in 2015-16. The new building will be located behind the Yukon Arts Centre, close to the existing trades wing, and within the current footprint of buildings that make up Yukon Place.
In the past 18 months, the centre has graduated 40 students from programs in heavy equipment operation, welding, geological technology, and introduction to underground and surface mining.