Ontario Government Building New School and School Addition with Child Care in Toronto
As part of Ontario’s ongoing efforts to build and improve local schools and create new licenced child care spaces, the Province is moving forward with the construction of a new state-of-the-art Dennis Avenue Community School and is improving existing facilities at George Syme Community School, to ensure students in Toronto’s West End have a safe, healthy and innovative environment to learn and thrive.
Supported by an investment of more than $35 million, including $8.3 million in additional funding, the Province has provided the Toronto District School Board with approval to award the tenders for a new Dennis Avenue Community School and an addition at George Syme Community School.
“The funding for a new Dennis Avenue Community School and improvements at George Syme Community School is great news for York South-Weston families,” said Michael Ford, MPP for York South-Weston. “Our government is investing in the future of students in our community. These projects will create hundreds of new pupil and child care spaces that ensure students, staff and families benefit from a modern and high-quality learning environment, as well as affordable child care in the years ahead.”
Once completed, these projects will deliver a combined 450 student spaces and 176 child care spaces for local families. The investment is part of the Ontario government’s commitment to provide $14 billion to support school construction, repair and renewal over 10 years. Since 2018, the government has approved nearly 200 school construction projects and the development of more than 300 child care and education building-related projects, of which, more than 100 are actively under construction.
“Our government is investing $14 billion over ten years to build new schools, improve existing facilities and create child care spaces to ensure young people can reach their full potential,” said Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. “By building the new state-of-the-art Dennis Avenue Community School and an addition with child care at George Syme Community School, coupled with tutoring and mental health supports for the year ahead, we are getting students back on track now and well into the future. While we make progress building this new school to support hard-working parents, we remain committed to keeping students in more normal classrooms with extra curriculars, sports, and clubs.”
The Government of Ontario is delivering more than $26.6 billion in education funding for the 2022-23 school year, which is the highest investment in public education in Ontario’s history. Investing in the province’s schools is an integral part of Ontario’s Plan to Catch Up, which is squarely focused on the priorities of parents and includes five key components:
- Kids being back in the classroom, with a full school experience that includes extracurriculars like sports, band and field trips;
- Investing more than $175 million for enhanced tutoring support programs delivered by school boards and community partners, with a focus on reading, writing and math;
- Updating the curriculum to prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow, including opportunities in the skilled trades;
- Providing more money to build schools and improve education; and
- Allocating $90 million – the highest amount in Ontario history, and a 420 per cent increase from 2017-18 – to support student mental health.
“Under Premier Ford’s leadership, we’re building more state-of-the-art schools to support the needs of Ontario’s students, families and growing communities. By investing in innovative and modern learning spaces, we’re ensuring students have access to the quality education that will provide them with lifelong skills and education in a safe and healthy environment,” said Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure. “These investments are one of the ways we’re delivering on our promise to build Ontario, with an infrastructure budget of more than $148 billion over the next decade.”
Quick Facts:
- Once completed, the new addition at George Syme Community School will deliver 92 student spaces and 88 child care spaces for local families. This is supported by an investment of $10.9 million, which includes additional funding of $2.6 million.
- Once completed, the new Dennis Avenue Community School will deliver 358 elementary spaces and 88 child care spaces for local families. This is supported by an investment of $24.1 million, which includes additional funding of $5.7 million.
- Since 2018, the Ontario government has invested over $2.0 billion in capital projects in education, including 100 new schools, 88 additions and renovations to existing facilities and 6,410 new licensed child care spaces.
- For the 2022-23 school year, the province is providing school boards with $1.4 billion in funding to revitalize and renew aged building systems and components.
- Through the COVID-19 Resilience Stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, the governments of Canada and Ontario are providing $656.5 million in funding for critical infrastructure projects to protect students and staff from COVID-19 in the province’s schools.
- In March 2022, the Governments of Canada and Ontario signed a $13.2 billion agreement that will lower child care fees in stages for families, delivering an average of $10 a day child care by September 2025.
Debora Pak
Office of Michael Ford, MPP for York South-Weston
Michael.Ford@pc.ola.org | |