There are a million reasons why the officials at Lakehead University in Orillia are smiling.

They will be getting one million dollars from the County of Simcoe.

Simcoe County Warden Cal Patterson will be presenting a cheque to Dean of the Orillia Campus Kim Fedderson at 10 AM on Wednesday at the Orillia campus on University Avenue.

Patterson says the money is part of the County's commitment to fund post-secondary education.

He says they made the commitment after learning that Lakehead was constructing their new campus in Orillia.

Patterson says having Lakehead in Orillia provides a huge opportunity for the residents of both the city and Simcoe County.

He says students from the area can stay home and get a great post-secondary education.

Patterson says the Lakehead campus in Orillia is in a great location where people from Simcoe County can make a short commute to get to the school and will stay here once they graduate.

He says before when people left Simcoe County to go to university, most don't come back.

The County has contributed a total of 2.5 million dollars to the Orillia campus.