Just four months before its contract with Qatar was set to expire, the College of the North Atlantic-Qatar has announced a new three-year agreement.

The deal has caused employees at CNA-Q to breathe a little easier after a months-long period of waiting to see if they had jobs past this summer.

CNAQ’s 10-year contract was due to expire last year, but was granted a one-year extension. This week, officials said that their contract with Qatar has been renewed through 2016, the CBC reports.

Speaking to Canadian station NTV, CNA President and CEO Ann Marie Vaughan added that the college plans to help train Qataris for jobs in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup.

NTV also said the three-year agreement was designed to reassure worried employees, and that an additional seven-year extension is in the works to take the college through 2022.

According to the CBC:

The partnership represents the largest international post-secondary agreement involving a North American institution and is valued in excess of $1 billion.

The campus in Doha has grown from 300 students enrolled in 11 programs in September 2002, to more than 2,500 students and 37 program programs in 2012. The facility has 20 buildings spread over 75,000 square metres.

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Credit: Photo courtesy of CNA-Q on Facebook