Ontario More Than Doubling Funding to Build New Schools

Historic investment will accelerate, build and expand more schools across the province

April 04, 2024

OAKVILLE —The Ontario government is investing a historic $1.3 billion to support the construction and expansion of 60 schools across the province. For the first time in the province’s history, the government is more than doubling the funding commitment to build more schools and expansions, which will create 27,093 new student spaces and 1,759 child care spaces.

The announcement was made by Education Minister Stephen Lecce in Oakville today alongside Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy and Parliamentary Assistants Natalie Pierre and Billy Pang.

“This $1.3 billion in funding represents the single largest investment in school building in Ontario’s history,” said Minister Lecce. “We are stepping up with a massive investment to build the homes, schools, and communities our province needs, and to ensure children have access to state-of-the-art schools close to home that give them real life and job skills to succeed in the future.”

This investment is part of the province’s plan to ensure that the public education system focuses on what matters most: important life-long skills such as reading, writing and math; improving accountability and transparency for parents and families; and maximizing capital assets.

“With Ontario’s population growing, we need to continue to build schools so students can learn close to home,” said Minister Bethlenfalvy. “This is part of our Plan to Build a Better Ontario by investing in infrastructure to get more homes, schools, hospitals, and highways built faster, attract better jobs with bigger paycheques, and keep costs down for families.”

Since 2018, the Ontario government has approved or supported the development of over 300 school-related projects including child care, of which more than 100 are actively under construction.

The 2024 Budget: Building a Better Ontario continues to support the province’s work being delivered in the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act to build schools faster and better use taxpayer-funded assets.

Quick Facts

In December 2023, the Ministry of Education announced Ontario’s plan to help build schools faster through a transparent, accountable and more efficient process. In the recent Capital Priorities round, school boards were encouraged to standardize the design of new school construction, identify opportunities to work together on joint-use school projects, and bring forward shovel-ready proposals.
Since 2018, the Ontario government has invested more than $3.6 billion in capital construction projects in education, including 139 new schools, 109 additions and renovations to existing facilities and over 8,000 new licensed child care spaces.
For the 2023-24 school year, the province is providing school boards with approximately $1.4 billion in funding to revitalize and renew aged building systems and components.
The investment is part of Ontario’s commitment to provide about $16 billion to support school construction, repair, and renewal over 10 years.
The Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, 2023 will ensure the public education system focuses on what matters most: teaching important life‑long skills such as reading, writing and math; improving accountability and transparency for parents and families; maximizing capital assets of boards to support building modern schools faster; and better utilizing current school capacity.

Quotes

“Today’s milestone announcement reflects our government’s vision for maintaining and expanding Ontario’s world-class public education system. This historic investment of $1.3 billion will support the construction of 60 new schools and school expansions across the province, opening up 27,093 new student spaces and 1,759 new child care spaces. Our government knows that every child across Ontario deserves to be educated at a world-class, state-of-the-art facility. That is why we are expanding our province’s education infrastructure to meet the needs of Ontario’s growing population.”

– Kinga Surma
Minister of Infrastructure and MPP for Etobicoke Centre

“As Ontario’s population continues to grow, so does the need for modern STEM-focused schools. Our government’s $1.3-billion investment in new school construction and expansions will ensure students have access to world-class education closer to home. This investment will provide students with the opportunity to learn in new, contemporary spaces that have the necessary technology and supports students need to succeed now, while preparing them for well-paying jobs of the future.”

– Natalie Pierre
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education and MPP for Burlington

“This unprecedented commitment underscores our government’s dedication to providing students with modern learning environments that foster success and innovation. Together, we are building the foundation for a brighter future, where students have the resources and support they need to thrive and succeed in an ever-changing world.”

– Billy Pang
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education and MPP for Markham—Unionville

“Our government knows that our students are the future and with a population growth at record-high numbers in the province, further investments are required when it comes to our children’s education. I am thrilled that our government continues to make historical investments ensuring that our public education system focuses on what is most important while maximizing capital assets so that our students can thrive and prosper.”

– Stephen Crawford
MPP for Oakville

“Today marks a historic milestone for Ontario’s education system, a groundbreaking investment of $1.3 billion to construct and expand 60 new schools. More than doubling our commitment, this unprecedented funding initiative underscores our unwavering dedication to providing modern educational facilities closer to home. With 27,093 new student spaces and 1,759 child care spaces, we’re not just building schools; we’re building futures. This is the single largest funding commitment in Ontario’s history, ensuring every child has the opportunity to thrive.”

– Effie Triantafilopoulos
MPP for Oakville North—Burlington

“The Ontario government’s $1.3-billion investment in new schools and expansions will help address the demand for education in our growing community. The Minister of Education and our two local MPPs have prioritized catching up with our need for new schools. Our town will do its part and maintain our reputation for fast school approvals in Ontario.”

– Rob Burton
Mayor, Town of Oakville

“AMO applauds the government’s significant investment to build and expand schools across Ontario. This investment in modern learning spaces will help critical public infrastructure keep pace with our growing communities. Municipalities look forward to working with partners to get new schools built efficiently and effectively to serve a diversity of community needs.”

– Colin Best
President, Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and Halton Regional Councillor

“As President of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association, I applaud the government’s commitment to new school construction and expansion announced today, recognizing the profound impact it will have on our students. This significant investment will help ensure that students across the province have access to modern, state-of-the-art learning environments that provide them with the best opportunity to thrive and succeed.”

– Cathy Abraham
President of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA)

“The Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association welcomes and is extremely pleased with today’s historic announcement with regard to significant additional funding in support of the construction of new and expanded school facilities. We are grateful to Minister Lecce and the provincial government for their commitment to provide the necessary funds to construct schools in rapidly growing areas and improve the learning environment of students in Catholic schools throughout Ontario.”

– Patrick Daly
President, Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association (OCSTA)

“The Ontario government’s significant and unprecedented investment in new and modern schools for students in high growth areas is a major boost to school boards across the province. Directors look forward to working with the Ministry of Education and municipalities to build new schools more efficiently and effectively to ensure that Ontario’s students are able to access state-of-the-art facilities to achieve exemplary results.”

– Laura Elliott
Executive Director, Council of Ontario Directors of Education (CODE)

“Building on the milestone announcement of $1.8 billion for housing supportive infrastructure, the government has made another important investment in Ontario’s communities. OHBA members know the value of schools to developing complete communities. This historic investment in community building of $1.3 billion to build 60 new schools means 60 new neighbourhoods are closer towards meeting the provincial housing target.”

– Dave Depencier
President, Ontario Home Builders Association (OHBA)

“ACÉPO is delighted by today’s announcement. As French-language public education is the fastest growing system, ACÉPO has been advocating intensely for additional schools to meet the needs of our expanding student population. This additional funding announced by Minister Lecce will play an important role in ensuring that families across Ontario can enrol their children in high-quality French-language public schools, thus fostering linguistic and cultural diversity within our education system and province.”

– Denis Labelle
President, Association des conseils scolaires des écoles publiques de l’Ontario (ACÉPO)

“L’Association franco-ontarienne des conseils scolaires catholiques welcomes the major investments announced for the construction and expansion of Catholic schools. It thanks Minister Lecce and the provincial government for their commitment to improving the learning environment and more access to French-language education for Catholic students in Ontario.”

– Johanne Lacombe
Chair, Association franco-ontarienne des conseils scolaires catholiques (AFOCSC)

“This investment of $1.3 billion to support the construction and expansion of 60 new schools across Ontario is a direct investment in our future. These schools will serve the new homes in communities across the province and support new approaches to learning that will prepare our children for careers in all of the sectors where we need future workers, leaders and innovators.”

– Richard Lyall
President, Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON)

Additional Resources

Building, improving and maintaining schools

Ontario More Than Doubling Funding to Build New Schools

Table of Contents

Quick Facts

Quotes

Additional Resources

Related Topics