Vancouver Career College closing its Kelowna campus

KELOWNA – Vancouver Career College is closing its Kelowna campus after 15 years of operation.

A news release issued today, Jan. 31, said the closure is due to "the current eonomic climate" and a decline in enrollment in recent years. The Kelowna campus is slated to close Aug. 31.

"Our first priority is to protect the education of our current students by teaching out all programs," Todd Maki, Regional Director of Operations for B.C. said in the news release. "This means we will not cease operations until all of the current students have had the opportunity to complete their studies and their practicums. The campus will remain in operation until the end of all classes."

The college stopped taking enrollments last year, citing safety concerns with homeless people at shelters near their campus at the corner of Pandosy Street and Bernard Avenue.

That building was sold in June 2018.

According to B.C. Assessment rolls, it was sold for $3.825 million on June 27 although it’s assessed value as of July 1, 2018 was only about $2.5 million.

The Original Farm Ltd., a Victoria-based company, has applied to rezone the land for a cannabis retail store.

Allan Lingwood, Head of Compliance for The Original Farm, said his company did not buy the building.

The Original Farm had two medical marijuana stores in Victoria. Those are now closed as the company awaits licencing to open as retail cannabis shops.

The application for Kelowna is being processed by the City, along with about 30 others. The land will have to be rezoned and licences approved before it can open, a process that will take several months yet.

The building covers almost 11,000 square feet. The Victoria stores are around 3,000 square feet, Lingwood said.

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