Ontario Government Approves Scope Change for New School in Belmont

Province’s investment in innovative and modern learning spaces will ensure students have high quality education in a safe and healthy environment

As part of Ontario’s ongoing efforts to build and improve local schools, the province has provided the Thames Valley District School Board with approval for a scope change for the new Belmont Public School. This is supported by an investment of $12.1 million, which includes additional funding of $3.4 million.

The Ontario government is delivering more than $26.6 billion in education funding for the 2022-23 school year, 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 focuses on the priorities of parents and includes five key components:

• Children 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 to support student mental health.

Once completed, this project will now deliver 507 elementary spaces for local families. The investment is part of the Ontario government’s commitment to providing $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 childcare and education building-related projects, of which more than 100 are actively under construction.

“When Minister Lecce was in Elgin-Middlesex-London last fall, we learned that the future Belmont elementary school would not have enough classroom capacity when opened,” said Rob Flack, MPP for Elgin-Middlesex-London. “I am very appreciative that our government and the Minister of Education responded so quickly to alleviate this potential problem. I continue to look forward to working with Director Fisher and the TVDSB in building the new Belmont school.”

“Our government is investing $14 billion over ten years to build new schools, improve existing facilities and create childcare spaces to ensure young people can reach their full potential,” said Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. “By building the new state-of-the-art Belmont Public School, as well as investing in tutoring and mental health supports for the year ahead, we are getting students in Belmont 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.” 

“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:

• 153 new student spaces
  • 507 total student spaces

“This is great news for Thames Valley,” said Mark Fisher, Director of Education for TVDSB. “We appreciate the Ministry’s responsiveness to the evolving needs of the school community, and its flexibility with regards to expanding the Belmont elementary school construction project. Our staff has been working hard to upgrade and add to our infrastructure to better serve students, families, and communities. We look forward to working with the Ministry and community partners on next steps for the new Belmont school, as well as other renovation and construction projects throughout the district.”

Belmont Public School will be located at the intersection of 7^th Avenue and Snyder Avenue in the Village of Belmont.

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 childcare 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 childcare fees in stages for families, delivering an average of $10 a day childcare by September 2025.

MPP Contact Info   Deb Ransom Executive Assistant to MPP Rob Flack 519-631-5995 deb.ransom@pc.ola.org