Ontario Building New Schools in London

Province more than doubles funding to build new schools, faster

LONDON — The Ontario government is investing $55.3 million in the Thames Valley District School Board for a new West London Public School and a new Southeast London Elementary School, helping working families in London, as announced by Rob Flack, MPP for Elgin—Middlesex—London.

This will support the creation of 1,180 student and 176 licensed child care spaces in London as part of the government’s commitment to building state-of-the-art learning spaces for Ontario students.

These projects are part of a $1.3 billion plan that more than doubles funding to build new schools and expansions, including child care spaces, announced by Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, as part of the Capital Priorities Program.

“This investment from the Government of Ontario of $55.3 million for a new West London Public School and a new Southeast London Elementary School will have such a positive and long-term impact on families in this region,” said Rob Flack, MPP for Elgin-Middlesex-London. “We are building a better Ontario for families and a better future for children with these new and modern schools.”

The overall investment, which is the highest ever made in a single year, supports the creation of more than 27,000 new student spaces and more than 1,700 licensed child care spaces at schools across Ontario.

“Our government is more than doubling the funding to build new schools, which represents the single largest investment in school building in Ontario 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 gives them real life and job skills to succeed in the future. I want to reiterate my thanks to MPP Rob Flack for his relentless advocacy for local families.”

Ontario’s government unveiled a new plan to build faster, including providing school boards with more flexibility and support to get shovels in the ground quicker and have more options to use existing buildings in their communities. These changes are part of the government’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.

“Our government is investing in new schools and improved infrastructure across the province to support the needs of Ontario’s students, families, and growing communities.” said Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure. “These are part of our historic investment of more than $190 billion over the next ten years to build and deliver the critical infrastructure Ontarians deserve today, and for future generations to come.”

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.

“Thank you to the Board of Trustees for their strong advocacy on behalf of students and families,” said Mark Fisher, Director of the Thames Valley District School Board. “I also want to commend our staff who are hard at work with community partners to address rising enrolment pressures. As one of the fastest growing school boards in Ontario, Thames Valley will benefit greatly from the Ministry’s approval of funding for these two schools and child care centres.”

“Thames Valley is thrilled to join our government and community partners as well as staff and students in celebrating the start of construction of these two London schools and child care centres,” said school board Chair Beth Mai, “This milestone highlights what’s possible when we work together to address the needs of our growing communities. Thames Valley remains committed to providing quality education for all students and looks forward to the many benefits these schools will bring to the City of London.”

Highlights of the projects include:

An investment of $28.2 million for the new Southeast London Elementary School creating 655 student spaces and 88 licensed child care spaces at a site to be acquired in London.

An investment of $27.1 million for the West London Public School creating 525 student spaces and 88 child care spaces at a site to be acquired in London.

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, creating more than 98,000 student spaces 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 new school construction, repair, and renewal over 10 years.

The Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, 2023 ensures 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.

Ontario secured a $13.2 billion agreement with the federal government that will lower fees for families to an average of $10 a day for children under the age of six under the Canada‑wide Early Learning and Child Care system.

MPP CONTACT INFO

Deb Ransom

Deb.ransom@pc.ola.org