Scholarships awarded to support growth in bioscience sector

The Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences recently awarded scholarships to 32 students at three Maritime universities in support of the growing bioscience sector.

A recent study by the alliance found about 2,000 Islanders working in the sector, and that there was a need for more.

"There is definitely a labour challenge in the sector, in particular on P.E.I.," said alliance executive director Christopher Gillis.

"The biosector here has seen unprecedented growth."

The recipients of the $5,000 scholarships are second-year students in co-op programs at UPEI, Acadia and Universit de Moncton.

Bioscience has become an important sector of the P.E.I. economy, said Gillis. There is a high demand currently for production and manufacturing technicians. About 65 per cent of positions advertised recently are in this area, he said. The industry is also looking for quality control analysts and research scientists.

The Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences is a partnership between industry, governments and post-secondary institutions, which came together to ensure that the industry has the talent pool it needs to grow into the future.

Funding for the scholarships came from the federal government and the provincial government on P.E.I.

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