New School Buildings | Fix Our Schools

Two years ago, the Liberal provincial government in power announced that they were investing $784 million to help build 39 new schools across the province, and renovate or expand another 40 school buildings. These important projects were expected to not only serve elementary and high school students across Ontario but also to provide more than 2,700 new licensed child care spaces to support the growing needs of Ontario families.

Fix Our Schools wants to hear from you and your communities about how each of these approved projects is progressing? Please email us at info@fixourschools.ca or engage with us on social media to let us know! We have heard that the people of Stoney Creek are frustrated about delays in Collegiate Avenue Elementary Schools approved renovations and addition.

Stop the delays @Sflecce. The people of Stoney Creek are disappointed and want to see Collegiate Avenue Elementary School's renos completed ASAP. No more excuses, no more delays. This project must go ahead! #educationmatters #studentsuccess #onpoli #HamOnt pic.twitter.com/aYjaNLBePX

— Paul Miller (@mppPaulMiller) January 10, 2020

To date, since the Ford government was elected in June 2018, Fix Our Schools is not aware of a single new school build that has been approved by this provincial government, which is disappointing, given how critical new school buildings are to addressing disrepair in schools and also to accommodating growth of student populations in many communities. What we are noticing is that Education Minister Lecce is re-announcing new school building projects that were actually approved by the previous Liberal government. If we are wrong and you’ve heard about a new school building or addition having been approved by the Ford government, please let us know about that too!

The new projects that were announced as approved by the Liberal government in January 2018 are as follows.

LOCATION	SCHOOL BOARD	PROJECT NAME	PROJECT TYPE
Ajax	Durham DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Ajax North	New school with one EarlyON room
Alliston	Simcoe Muskoka Catholic DSB	Unnamed Catholic Elementary School	New school with 49 child care spaces
Almonte	Catholic DSB of Eastern Ontario	Holy Name of Mary Catholic School	Addition with 63 new child care spaces
Ancaster	Hamilton-Wentworth DSB	Ancaster Senior Public School	Addition
Ancaster	Hamilton-Wentworth DSB	C.H. Bray Public School	New school
Atikokan	Rainy River DSB	Atikokan High School	Addition with 49 new child care spaces and one new EarlyON room
Beaverton	Durham DSB	Beaverton Public School	New school with 49 child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Belleville	Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic DSB	St. Joseph Catholic School	Addition
Belleville	Hastings and Prince Edward DSB	Moira Secondary School	Addition
Belleville	Hastings and Prince Edward DSB	Queen Elizabeth Public School	New school
Blind River	Algoma DSB	Unnamed JK-12 School	New school with 64 child care spaces and two EarlyON rooms
Bradford	Simcoe County DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Bradford North	New school with 39 child care spaces
Brampton	Dufferin Peel Catholic DSB	Holy Name of Mary Catholic Secondary School	Addition
Brampton	Peel DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Vales of Humber	New school with 73 child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Burlington	Halton DSB	Nelson High School	Addition
Burlington	Halton DSB	M.M. Robinson High School	Addition
Caledon	Dufferin Peel Catholic DSB	St. Cornelius Elementary School	Addition
Cambridge	CSC MonAvenir	École secondaire catholique Père-René-de-Galinée	Addition
Chatham	Lambton Kent DSB	Tecumseh Public School	Renovation
Cornwall	Catholic DSB of Eastern Ontario	St. Joseph Catholic Secondary School	Renovation
Etobicoke	Toronto Catholic DSB	Holy Angels Catholic School	New school with 88 child care spaces
Etobicoke	Toronto DSB	Kipling Collegiate Institute	Renovation with 88 new child care spaces
Forest	Lambton Kent DSB	Unnamed JK-12 School	New school with 24 child care spaces and two EarlyON rooms
Gloucester	CSD catholique du Centre-Est de l’Ontario	Unnamed Catholic Elementary School – Riverside South	New school with 49 child care spaces
Guelph	Upper Grand DSB	Unnamed Secondary School – Guelph South	New school
Hamilton	Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic DSB	St. Patrick Catholic Elementary School	New school with two EarlyON rooms
Hawkesbury	CSD des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario	École élémentaire publique Nouvel Horizon	Addition with 15 new child care spaces
Hearst	CSD du Nord-Est de l’Ontario	École publique Passeport Jeunesse	Purchase of new school facility
Kincardine	Bruce-Grey Catholic DSB	St. Anthony Catholic Elementary School	Addition with 78 new child care spaces
Kingston	Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic DSB	Unnamed Catholic Elementary School – Kingston West	New school with 73 child care spaces and three EarlyON rooms
Kingston	CSD catholique du Centre-Est de l’Ontario	École secondaire catholique Marie-Rivier	New school with 49 child care spaces
Kingston	CSD des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario	École secondaire publique Mille-Îles	New school
Kitchener	Waterloo Region DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Huron South	New school with 88 child care spaces and three EarlyON rooms
Leamington	Greater Essex County DSB	Queen Elizabeth Public School	Addition with 73 new child care spaces and two EarlyON rooms
Listowel	Huron-Perth Catholic DSB	St. Mary’s Catholic School	Addition with 64 new child care spaces and one EarlyON room
London	London District Catholic School Board	Unnamed Catholic Elementary School	New school
London	London District Catholic School Board	St. Bernadette Catholic School	Addition
London	Thames Valley DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Southeast London	New school with 88 child care spaces
London	Thames Valley DSB	Masonville Public School	Addition
London	Thames Valley DSB	Tweedsmuir Public School	Addition
Madoc	Hastings and Prince Edward DSB	Centre Hastings Secondary School	Addition
Markdale	Bluewater DSB	Beavercrest Public School	New school with 39 child care spaces and two EarlyON rooms
Markham	York Catholic DSB	St. Francis Xavier Catholic Elementary School	Renovation
Markham	York Region DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Cornell	New school with 39 child care spaces
Milton	Halton Catholic DSB	Bishop P.F. Reding Catholic Secondary School	Addition with 64 new child care spaces
Milton	Halton DSB	Unnamed Elementary School	New school with 88 child care spaces
Mississauga	Peel DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – City Centre	New school with 73 child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Nepean	Ottawa Catholic DSB	St. Joseph High School	Addition
Niagara Falls	DSB of Niagara	Forestview Public School	Addition with 49 new child care spaces
North Bay	Near North DSB	Fricker Public School	New school with 73 child care spaces and one EarlyON room
North Grenville	Upper Canada DSB	North Grenville PS	Addition
North York	Toronto Catholic DSB	St. Matthias Public School	New school with 88 child care spaces
North York	Toronto Catholic DSB	St. Margaret Catholic School	Addition to create 49 new child care spaces
North York	Toronto DSB	Sir Sandford Fleming Public School	Renovation with 88 new child care spaces
North York	Toronto DSB	Hollywood Public School	Addition with 64 new child care spaces
Oakville	CSC MonAvenir	École secondaire catholique Sainte-Trinité	Addition
Oakville	Halton Catholic DSB	St. Michael Catholic Elementary School	Addition with 49 new child care spaces
Oakville	Halton DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Oakville Northeast	New school with 88 child care spaces
Omemee	Trillium Lakelands DSB	Scott Young Public School	Addition with 49 new child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Orillia	Simcoe Muskoka Catholic DSB	Notre Dame Catholic School	Addition
Oro-Medonte	Simcoe County DSB	Unnamed Elementary School	New school with one EarlyON room
Ottawa	Ottawa-Carleton DSB	Elmdale Public School	Addition
Renfrew	Renfrew County Catholic DSB	St. Joseph High School	Addition with 73 new child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Sarnia	St. Clair Catholic DSB	Sacred Heart Catholic School	New school with 88 child care spaces
Stittsville	Ottawa-Carleton DSB	Unnamed Secondary School	New school
Stoney Creek	Hamilton-Wentworth DSB	Mount Albion Public School	Addition with 49 new child care spaces
Thorold	DSB of Niagara	Richmond Street Public School	Addition
Thorold	Niagara Catholic DSB	Monsignor Clancy Catholic School	Addition with 49 new child care spaces
Toronto	Conseil scolaire Viamonde	Unnamed Secondary School – Toronto East	New school
Toronto	Toronto DSB	Unnamed JK-12 School (more details to follow)	New project with 64 new child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Troy	Hamilton-Wentworth DSB	Beverly Central Community Centre Public School	Addition
Vaughan	CSC MonAvenir	Unnamed Catholic Secondary School Vaughan	New school
Vaughan	York Region DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Maple	New school with 39 child care spaces
Wasaga Beach	Simcoe County DSB	Wasaga Beach Public School	New school with three EarlyON rooms
Whitby	Durham Catholic DSB	St. Marguerite D’Youville Catholic School	New school with 24 child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Whitby	Durham DSB	Unnamed Elementary School	New school with 73 child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Windsor	Greater Essex County DSB	Unnamed Elementary School	New school with 73 child care spaces
York	Toronto DSB	Dennis Avenue Community School	New school with 88 child care spaces
York	Toronto DSB	George Syme Community School	Addition with 88 new child care spaces

Fix Our Schools was happy to see our provincial government resume the process for getting new schools and additions built in Ontario. You see, this process had been on hold since the June 2018 provincial election so we’ve had a year when zero new school buildings or additions were approved by the provincial government. Building new schools is one of the keys to reducing the $15.9-billion of disrepair that continues to plague Ontario’s publicly funded schools so Fix Our Schools was understandably relieved at Minister Lecce’s announcement on July 22, 2019.

However, we are perplexed at Minister Lecce’s comment relative to a recent memo to school boards that encouraged school boards to identify opportuities for modular construction and standardized plans for building new schools, saying that this move is “simply about saving money“.

Fix Our Schools is very supportive of using new approaches to building schools where Ontario’s children can best learn and we are extremely supportive of pursuing approaches to new school buildings that are both efficient and effective. We would propose that using the sole criteria of “saving money” will not lead to optimum learning environments for students and may not lead to the the most efficient or effective approach to building new schools in this province, especially when considered over the long-term.

The Fix Our Schools campaign would like to see new schools built to last, using high-quality materials and finishes that are easy to clean and maintain. We believe this approach will result in maximizing cost-savings over time.

As quoted in the August 15, 2019 opinion piece entitled, “Here’s a lesson: When it comes to public school design, Ontario will get what it pays for“, by Alex Bozikovic in the Globe & Mail, we would like to see “new schools built using designs that inspire optimum learning and allow for dignity for all students and adults learning and working in that building”. Portables are not dignified learning environments so the fact that so many new schools open their doors with portables on site from the very first day is unacceptable. The photo below is of the Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy in Toronto, according to Bozikovic, this building is “a rare example of creative, thoughtful design among Ontario public schools.”

Fix Our Schools would like to see new schools built using designs that allow for flexibility if future uses evolve. Being able to easily transform a publicly funded school into a community centre or seniors centre as a community’s demographics evolve is the ultimate in efficient design. Therefore, we are concerned that no thought seems to be given to future uses of the critical public buildings we happen to call schools today – but that could evolve to be called community centres thirty years from now.

We would like to see new schools built that meet the diverse needs of rural, urban and suburban communities across the province.

Fix Our Schools would also like to see new schools in Ontario that are designed and built to send the message to students that their education is valued and important. Many of the older schools across Ontario are stunning buildings that clearly communicated the importance of education via the grandeur of the building.

We would encourage Minister Lecce to consider criteria beyond “simply saving money” in the short-term when working with school boards to replace the 346 schools in this province that, according to the most recent Facilities Condition Index (FCI) data released by the Province in October 2017, would be cheaper to rebuild than repair.

Tag Archives: New School Buildings

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