Ontario Government Building New School in Simcoe County
Province gives approval to proceed to tender for the new Wasaga Beach Public School
As part of Ontario’s ongoing efforts to build and improve local schools, the province provided the Simcoe County District School Board with approval to proceed to tender for the new Wasaga Beach Public School in Simcoe County. This is supported by an investment of $14.9 million, which includes additional funding of $4.2 million.
The Government of Ontario is delivering more than $26.6 billion in education funding for the 2022-23 school year, including an increase of over $600 million in September 2022, 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, on time 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.
Once completed, this project will deliver 406 elementary spaces for local familes. 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.
“The funding for a new elementary school in Wasaga Beach is great news for our community,” said Brian Saunderson, MPP for Simcoe-Grey. “This investment will ensure families and students have access to a quality learning environment in the years ahead.”
“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 Wasaga Beach Public School in Simcoe County, as well as investing in tutoring and mental health supports for the year ahead, we are getting students in Simcoe County back on track now and well into the future. While we make progress building the new Wasaga Beach Public School to support hard-working parents, we remain committed to keeping students in class in more normal classrooms with extra curriculars, sports, and clubs.”
“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.”
Highlights of the project include:
Wasaga Beach Public School will be located within the Sunnidale Trails subdivision in Wasaga Beach.
Quick Facts:
· 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 renew and maintain existing schools.
· 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.