Ontario Invests in School-Based Child Care in Scarborough North

Province injects half a million into local school to create 49 new child care spaces 

NEWS

January 26, 2022

SCARBOROUGH—The Ontario government is investing $.5 million to create 49 child care spaces at St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School to help working families in Scarborough. This investment, announced by Raymond Cho, MPP for Scarborough North, is part of the Ford Government’s commitment to supporting affordable and accessible child care in communities across the province.

“I am so proud of our government taking decisive action to improve the quality of childcare for the children and families of Scarborough North,” said MPP Cho. “Prioritizing investments in the future of our children in an unprecedented way will greatly serve to protect our progress and create a stronger, more vibrant Scarborough North.”

Once complete, the project will provide 1 infant room, 1 toddler room, and 1 preschool room through the province’s Early Years Capital Program.

The expansion at St, Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School in the Toronto Catholic District School Board is part of a provincewide investment of more than $600 million to support school and child care spaces that were recently announced by Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. The overall investment will support 78 school and child care relate projects. As part of this investment, the province dedicated more than $95 million to create more than 3,000 new child care spaces through renovations and additions at 55 child care centres across Ontario. The investment will provide families with more options for their children.

Across Ontario, the province is supporting the creation of 40 infant rooms (400 new spaces), 59 toddler rooms (885 new spaces), 71 preschool rooms (1,704 new spaces), and seven family age group rooms (105 new spaces).

The announcement supports Ontario’s child care plan which focuses on making child care more affordable, providing more choice and availability for families, reducing red tape and administrative burden, improving quality, and effectively delivering high standards of care.

“After years of neglect under the previous government, we are stepping up to support families by investing in affordable and accessible child care that meets their needs,” said Minister Lecce. “These investments are key to our economic recovery and further evidence of how our government continues to lead the way when it comes to investing in child care.”

As part of this plan to make child care affordable, safe and accessible, Ontario has committed up to $1 billion to create up to 30,000 new child care spaces over five years. To date, over 23,000 new spaces have been approved and builds upon Ontario’s existing and well-established child care infrastructure giving families more choices and flexibility.

In addition, to support parents with the cost of child care and help them re-enter the workforce, Ontario is providing a 20 per cent enhancement of the Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses (CARE) tax credit for 2021. This will increase support from $1,250 to $1,500 per family, on average, providing about $75 million in additional support for the 2021 child care expenses of over 300,000 families.

The Ontario government has allocated more than $600 million to support ventilation improvements in schools across Ontario as part of its plans for a safer return to school. The Toronto Catholic District School Board has benefited from an investment of $16.8 million for ventilation improvements and has over 7,000 HEPA filter units in place.

St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School is located at 75 Alexmuir Blvd in Scarborough.

QUOTES

“We are delighted to receive the approval of funding for new child care spaces at St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School.  The additional child care spaces will offer invaluable programs that will support families in this caring community.  We are thrilled to welcome existing and new families to our school community in this capacity so that we can support the development of young children.  This is a true blessing for our school community.  These upgrades will serve our families and future students at St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School well into the future.”

– Susan Scott, Principal, St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School

“Access to child care is fundamental to supporting the young families in our communities. We thank Minister Lecce, MPP Cho and the Government of Ontario for their continued investments in Toronto Catholic schools. The child care addition at St Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School will serve the needs of their surrounding community, benefiting future generations for years to come.”

– Garry Tanuan, Trustee (Ward 8), Toronto Catholic District School Board

QUICK FACTS

• On November 4, the province released the 2021 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review: Build Ontario. The plan lays out how the government will build the foundation for Ontario’s recovery and prosperity by getting shovels in the ground on projects like new schools and child care.

• Since 2018, the Ontario government has invested over $1.5 billion in capital projects in education, including 76 new schools, 75 additions and renovations to existing facilities and 4,908 new licensed child care places.

• For 2021-22, the province is also providing school boards with $1.4 billion in funding to renew and maintain existing schools.

• 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 through the COVID-19 Resilience stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.

• The federal government provides 2.5 per cent of the total cost support for early learning and child care operating expenses in Ontario, with Ontario families, the provincial and municipal governments providing the remainder.

• Ontario has provided emergency child care for the school-aged children of frontline workers, including public safety and health care workers, as well as those working with vulnerable populations, at no out-of-pocket cost. In 2021, at its peak, this program provided over 12,000 children with high-quality child care each day across 717 sites province-wide.

• Ontario is providing a 20 per cent enhancement of the Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses (CARE) tax credit for 2021. This will increase support from $1,250 to $1,500 per family, on average, providing about $75 million in additional support for the 2021 child care expenses of over 300,000 families.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Strengthening Early Years and Child Care in Ontario

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MEDIA CONTACT

Office of MPP Raymond Cho

416-297-5040

raymond.cho@pc.ola.org