Room and a Maritime Education

WMI's Captain Bob Kitching stands in front of the institute's new student accommodation building

Western Maritime Institute (WMI) officially welcomed its first students into it's new student housing building. A few weeks back, all the final touches and permits were completed on the brand new facility. Students enrolled at the maritime training school are now able to stay on site, at the campus, simplifying their life and reducing their overall training costs.

When asked about his stay, a mate-in-training at WMI, was very positive about his temporary home while studying away from his ship, Water Bridge's Francois Forester, plying the water of Francois Lake near the town of Burns Lake, in central British Columbia.

The new building, one of three planned, was professional designed and built to stringent building codes, and is aimed at mimicking living quarters on a modern ship. Each room has one bed, a desk, and its own bathroom with a shower. Wireless internet and laundry facilities are also included for guests, as is ample free parking. The nearby main building offers a full kitchen, and lounge. The building has 6 student rooms and 2 "instructors" rooms - which are slightly roomier.

The cost per night ranges from $40 for stays longer than 28 days, to $60 for short stay, 1-6 days. There is also a full room and board option featuring three meals a day.

Captain Kitching is quite proud of the new facilities, and rightly so. The timing could not be better, as the scheduled programs are running at capacity, and they added additional courses to meet demand. Next week, the housing complex is already fully booked. What a great way to launch, and an obvious statement about the maritime community's needs.

Maritime Education Associates (MEA) was established to provide marine training in urban and rural locations throughout British Columbia and Canada to meet the accreditation training standards established by Transport Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard and Industry Canada for the fishing, commercial and recreational marine industry.

Maritime Education Associates and The Western Maritime Institute is a Private Post Secondary Education Institute accredited with the Private Career Training Institutions Agency of British Columbia under registration number 3662.

We are also accredited with Det Norske Veritas under their Standard for Certification of Maritime Academies No. 3.401, Nov. 2004.

All MEA instructors are individually accredited by Transport Canada for the courses they teach and hold the approved Provincial teaching credentials.

The accommodation block, located near the main building, yet in a serene environment

You can find out more about Western Maritime Institute here, and they have a brief pamphlet available here.