The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) is a

polytechnic institute An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. SAIT offers more than 110 career programs in technology, trades and business. Established in 1916, it is Calgary's second oldest post-secondary institution and Canada's first publicly funded technical institute.

Campus location and expansion

SAIT's main campus is located on 16 Avenue NW, overlooking the downtown core of Calgary and is served by the

CTrain CTrain (previously branded C-Train) is a light rail rapid transit system in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Most of the network functions as a light metro, though in the free-fare zone that runs through the downtown core the Red and Blue lines opera ...

light rail system. SAIT has three other campuses located in Calgary: * Mayland Heights – Located on Centre Avenue, this facility supports students pursuing a career in auto body, crane and hoisting, recreation vehicle servicing, electrical, plumbing and rail. * Culinary Campus – Located on Stephen Avenue, it provides baking basics and cooking fundamentals. The Culinary Campus also acts as a marketplace, selling food to the general public. * Art Smith Aero Centre – Occupying of land at the Calgary International Airport, this campus supports the School of Transportation. * Crane and Ironworker Facility – Located at 10490 72 St SE, this facility has a fully functioning crane maintenance shop, a yard with boom trucks and mobile cranes and crane simulators. * The Tastemarket by SAIT – Located at 444 7 Ave SW, The Tastemarket is a downtown urban eatery and learning environment.

Academics

SAIT offers three baccalaureate degrees (2019), three applied degrees, 86 diploma and certificate programs, 27 apprenticeship trades and more than 1,100 continuing education, corporate training, camps and other open registration courses. SAIT delivers skill-oriented education through nine schools: *MacPhail School of Energy *School of Business *School of Construction *School of Health and Public Safety *School of Hospitality and Tourism *School of Information and Communications Technologies *School of Manufacturing and Automation *School of Transportation *School for Advanced Digital Technology English language foundations and academic upgrading are offered through the Lamb Learner Success Centre. SAIT's Applied Research and Innovation Services (ARIS) department works in partnership with industry on applied research.

Facilities

Heritage Hall

Heritage Hall is one of the central buildings and a historical site on the SAIT campus. Construction began on Heritage Hall on January 18, 1921, five years after the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (PITA) was formed in Calgary in 1916. Designed by Alberta provincial architect Richard Palin Blakey and built by J. McDiarmid Company of Winnipeg, the three-storey modern structure's focal point is the central entrance flanked by two large towers designed with the characteristics of

Collegiate Gothic Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Euro ...

architecture, which was prevalent throughout North America at the time. Despite the prevalence of Collegiate Gothic architecture in post-secondary education, Heritage Hall is the only example in Calgary. Heritage Hall was completed later in 1922 and accommodated both the PITA and the Calgary

Normal School A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the structure was used as a wireless training school for the

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Z ...

. The structure was intentionally situated on Calgary's North Hill to maximize the structure's visibility throughout Calgary, and also provide a view of the city from the building. The building was originally known as the "Provincial Institute of Technology Building and Normal School" and was renamed "Heritage Hall" in 1985. On May 31, 1985, the Government of Alberta designated Heritage Hall a provincial historic resource under the ''Historical Resources Act''. The citation for the historical designation notes the integral role the structure and SAIT played in the development of post-secondary education in Alberta, and the significant architectural value of the Collegiate Gothic design. On June 24, 1987, the Government of Canada designated Heritage Hall a national historic site under the name "Heritage Hall Southern Alberta Institute of Technology National Historic Site of Canada". The federal designation notes the importance of the structure and SAIT as a place in the development of

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an in ...

in Western Canada. The designation references only the footprint of Heritage Hall and not the entire SAIT campus.

Residence

SAIT Residence has two modern high rises located in the northeast corner of its main campus.

Campus Centre

The Campus Centre contained a coffee house, bar, Jugo Juice,

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ...

nasium,

fitness centre A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place that houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. In recent years, the number of fitness and health ser ...

, squash courts,

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thoug ...

alley,

hockey arena An ice hockey arena (or ice hockey venue, or ice hockey stadium) is a sport venue in which an ice hockey competition is held. Alternatively it is used for other sports such as broomball, ringette and rink bandy. Multi-purpose arenas A number of i ...

, salt water

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

and theatre. This building has been decommissioned, and demolition is currently in progress. Construction of a new Campus Centre is expected to be complete by 2025.

Stan Grad Centre

This central building on SAIT's main campus houses food service outlets, study areas, classrooms, the campus bookstore and the library.

Additional buildings on campus

* Clayton Carroll Automotive Centre * Aldred Centre * John Ware building * E.H. Crandell building * Cenovus Energy Centre * Johnson-Cobbe Energy Centre * Senator Burns building * Eugene Coste building * Thomas Riley building

Athletics

SAIT has been a member of the

Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) is the governing body for collegiate sports in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1964, as the Western Inter-College Conference, the ACAC is represented by eighteen schools, including one in Saskatchewan, t ...

since 1964. The SAIT Trojans are represented basketball, curling, soccer, cross country running, hockey and volleyball. All of SAIT's sports teams share the name Trojans.

Recognition

In 2021, SAIT's School of Business was one of three Canadian schools to make the top 100 of CEOWORLD Magazine's Best Business Schools in the World for 2021, SAIT ranked #52 overall. In 2021, CEOWORLD Magazine recognized SAIT as the number one hospitality school in Canada on its list of the world's Best Hospitality and Hotel Management Schools, ranking #19 overall. CEOWORLD also ranked the School of Hospitality and Tourism as Canada's number one culinary school in its inaugural ranking of the Best Culinary Schools in Canada.

Notable alumni

Robert Alford Robert J. Alford (born December 10, 1950 in Edson, Alberta) is a Canadian politician. He married in 1975 and raised two daughters. Education Alford graduated from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (S.A.I.T.) in 1971 with a diploma i ...

, politician *

Ken Allred George Kenneth (Ken) Allred (born December 30, 1940 in Pincher Creek, Alberta) is a politician in Alberta, Canada, who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, in which he sat as a member of the Progressive Conservative caucus. He i ...

, politician * Evan Berger, politician *

Ted Godwin Edward W. (Ted) Godwin, D.F.A. (August 13, 1933 – January 3, 2013) was the youngest member of the Regina Five, a group of five artists (Ken Lochhead, Art McKay, Ron Bloore and Douglas Morton) all based in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1961 when t ...

, artist and Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

* Jason Hale, politician *

Laureen Harper Laureen Ann Harper ( Teskey; born June 23, 1963) is a Canadian graphic designer. She is married to Canada's 22nd prime minister, Stephen Harper. Life and career The eldest of three, Laureen Ann Teskey was born in Turner Valley, a rural town s ...

, spouse of the former Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper *

Doug Horner Douglas Alan Horner (born January 17, 1961) is a former Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Spruce Grove-St. Albert in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 2001 until January 31, 2015. He was the President of t ...

, politician * Chris Jamieson, hockey player *

David Joseph David Joseph may refer to: *David Joseph (basketball), Canadian basketball coach *David Joseph (executive), English corporate executive *David C. Joseph David Cleveland Joseph (born May 6, 1977) is a United States district judge of the United S ...

, basketball coach and former college player *

Roy Kiyooka Roy Kenzie Kiyooka (January 18, 1926January 8, 1994) was a Canadian painter, poet, photographer, arts teacher, and multi-media artist. Biography A Nisei, or a second generation Japanese Canadian, Roy Kenzie Kiyooka was born in Moose Jaw, Saskat ...

, artist and Officer of the

Greg Kolodziejzyk Greg Kolodziejzyk ( , Polish: ; born March 10, 1961) is a Canadian cyclist who has held several world records on recumbent bicycles and pedal-powered boats. Early life and education Kolodziejzyk was born in Fort St. John, British Columbia in 19 ...

, cyclist * Paul Landry, polar explorer * Aylmer Liesemer, politician * Colin Low, filmmaker *

Shane Lust Shane Lust (born August 29, 1986) is a Canadian former ice hockey player. Early life Born in Calgary, Alberta, Lust attended the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology from 2007 to 2011, where he played four seasons of college hockey in ...

, hockey player * Barry McFarland, politician *

Noah Miller Noah Miller may refer to: * Noah Miller (baseball) (born 2002), American baseball player * Noah Miller (water polo) (born 1980), Canadian water polo player {{hndis, Miller, Noah ...

, water polo player and coach *

Caia Morstad Caia Morstad (born September 14, 1982) is a Canadian athlete who was a competitive volleyball player and Calgary Stampede Princess. She has played volleyball for the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, University of Saskatchewan Huskies, and the SA ...

, volleyball player * John Nursall, television and film writer and producer *

Jackson Proskow Jackson Proskow is a Canadian journalist with the Global Television Network. He is currently the network's Washington Bureau Chief, reporting for Global National, the network's flagship national news broadcast. Proskow was born in Calgary, Albe ...

, television newsperson * Jonathan Scott, co-host of

Property Brothers ''Property Brothers'' is a Canadian reality television series now produced by Scott Brothers Entertainment, and is the original show in the ''Property Brothers'' franchise. The series features twin brothers Drew Scott and Jonathan Scott. Dre ...

* Jeremy St. Louis, television newsperson *

J. D. Watt J. D. Watt (born May 25, 1987) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. He was originally drafted by the Flames in the fourth round (111th overall) of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Beginning with the 2012–13 season, Watt has been play ...

, hockey player * Len Webber, politician *

Stewart Woodman {{Infobox chef , name = Stewart Woodman , image = , caption = , birth_date = {{Birth year and age, 1969 , birth_place = Bellefonte, Pennsylvania , death_date = , death_place = , dead = ...

, restaurateur

Arms

References

External links

* * (Federal ''Historic Sites and Monuments Act'' Designation) * - (Provincial ''Historical Resources Act'' Designation) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sait Polytechnic Universities and colleges in Calgary Colleges in Alberta Vocational education in Canada Educational institutions established in 1916 1916 establishments in Alberta National Historic Sites in Alberta Buildings and structures on the National Historic Sites of Canada register