Students arriving at Yukon University this week will be greeted by scaffolding, tarps and construction workers as the school undergoes phase one of a three-year, $16.3-million government-funded roof replacement.

But it will all hopefully be worth it in the end, with no more dripping water on their heads and less of a chill in the air during winter months.

“We’ve had consistent leaking over the years,” Yukon University Provost Shelagh Rowles said Tuesday.

General orientation for new students was last Friday, while departmental orientation was Tuesday. Classes begin at the school today.

Rowles said enrollment is about on par with last year, with 708 students registered so far.

She expects this number to rise with late arrivals, such as those from the Northwest Territories who have been displaced by wildfires.

“We sent letters to every student (from N.W.T.) just making sure they know they have the support necessary and processes in place to make sure if they are delayed on their actual registration or their fee payment or ability to access technology to attend classes, that we’ll work with them on that,” she said.

Premier Ranj Pillai and Education Minister Jeanie MacLean issued a statement on Tuesday welcoming back all Yukon University students.

“We are fortunate to have an institution here where the next generation of achievers and visionaries can build skills that help further shape and strengthen the Yukon,” the statement reads.

The 35-year-old building is owned by the government. The retrofit will be paid for partly by the territorial government and partly by federal grants from the Small Communities Fund.

The building opened in 1988 when Yukon University – then called Yukon College – moved to its current campus from its old location – what’s now the Department of Education building on the edge of Riverdale.

The grants will pay for about 75 per cent of the renovation, according to the Department of Highways and Public Works’ Michael Zuccarini, who is the director of capital development for its property management division.

The work will be done in three phases, with each phase consisting of work on one wing of the building.

The trades wing will be completed this year, with the academic wing scheduled for next year and the commons wing in 2025.

Ketza Construction Corp. was awarded the contract on June 1, and work is well under way on the trades wing.

“So far, we built the scaffolding, and the existing skylights have been removed,” Zuccarini said, adding “the existing roof has been fully demolished at this point.”

Contractors will be working on the trades wing during classes, but when they work on the academic wing, they will be working during off-hours to provide a quieter learning environment.

“They’ve been working with our facilities people to really make it so that it’s as least disruptive as a roof replacement on a really big building could be,” Rowles said.

“What they’re trying to do is phase it at times when it would be the least likely to have significant impact on classes.”

Work is going on inside and outside the building, and students will encounter scaffolding inside some of the hallways.

Rowles said they have worked together with their safety team and the construction company to put up signage and clearly designate no-go zones for students.

Beyond just replacing the actual roof itself, Rowles said that once it is off, they can fix any issues the leaking has caused over the years.

“Once the roof comes off, there is an opportunity to mitigate any potential issues coming from leaking,” she said.

Some of the problems she referred to include mould, old insulation and exterior siding that needs to be replaced.

Though the project is costing a large sum of money, Zuccarini said the price tag is about what they expected after having a professional consultant give an estimate.

“This project is actually on-budget,” Zuccarini said. “We had very competitive bidding.”

While the primary reasoning behind the re-build is to increase the longevity of the building, it’s also aimed at improving energy efficiency.

“By making the roof more energy-efficient, it will reduce the building’s greenhouse gas emissions by approximately seven per cent,” Zuccarini said.

He gave an example to illustrate how much carbon emissions that saves each year.

“To put that in perspective it is the equivalent of 600 round trips from Whitehorse to Dawson by car,” he said.

Part of the issue, according to Rowles, is that the building was designed by architects from Vancouver at a time when building codes were different, so it wasn’t built to current standards for northern climates. The result has been inconsistent heating.

“There are areas of the building which are quite a bit hotter, or cooler, depending on the time of year,” Rowles said. “It doesn’t have the same feel as some of the more modern buildings.”

Whitehorse-based Ketza has many northern projects on its résumé, including some of Whitehorse’s largest public buildings such as the Canada Games Centre and the MacBride Museum expansion project.