Victoria will provide the majority of the funding for a new $133.3 million faculty of pharmaceutical science building at the University of British Columbia.
The expansion will increase the number of new pharmacists in B.C. by 47%.
The new facility will allow the undergraduate pharmacy program to expand by 72 students by 2011, increasing the total number of new pharmacists to 224 by 2015. The faculty's masters, doctoral and Pharm.D. graduate programs will also expand.
The new pharmaceutical sciences building will have almost two hectares of floor space containing research and teaching laboratories, office space, classrooms and additional space to be leased out to tenants who are conducting drug research, development and commercialization.
The Centre for Drug Research and Development will also be housed in the new building, which the government is providing $86.4 million to build.
The building will aim to achieve LEED gold certification and create approximately 850 construction jobs.