North Bay's Canadore College gets $750K for a clean water lodge

North Bay's Canadore College has received $750,000 from FedNor to build an Indigenous clean water learning lodge.

The lodge will be a testing ground for water treatment technology, and will also apply Indigenous knowledge around conservation.

The funding announcement was part of a $2.8-million investment to support four initiatives at the northern Ontario college.

The other projects are a $1.1-million investment to establish a lab for advanced manufacturing and prototyping, $1 million for a digital public safety centre at Canadore, and $25,000 to support information sessions on financial literacy and promote the awareness of elder abuse among seniors.

"These projects with Canadore College are great examples of how we are helping to maximize opportunities for social and business growth, while supporting jobs and a strong economy," Nipissing-Timiskaming MP Anthony Rota said in a press release.

FedNor said the water lodge project is expected to create 25 jobs.

Canadore College president and CEO George Burton told CBC News they work with seven Indigenous research institutes across Ontario, and they will take the lead on the project.

"It will be led by the Indigenous communities," he said. "If you think of it this way, we receive the funding, but we're going to help facilitate this."

Burton added the project is a natural extension of the college's commitment to the United Nations' sustainable development goals.

"Water is key to life," he said.

"And so this is a natural extension of that that led us to pursue this, because we believe that we need different approaches, again, to ensure that potable water is available to everyone."