Modernizing Education and Child Care
As our province grows into the modern era, so does our need for more class rooms, teachers and support staff equipped with the tools needed to prepare our students for the jobs of tomorrow. Thats why the Ontario government is increasing Core Education Funding for the coming school year by $745 million more than last year.
Together with other investments, this represents $29 billion in total education funding and the largest investment in Ontario’s education system.
Ontario’s plan will support getting back-to-basics, provide mental health supports and build more schools, faster.
For the 2024-25 school year, the Ontario government’s investments include:
- Special Education funding is being increased to $3.5 billion
- $11.5 million additional investment to support school boards’ ability to conduct professional assessments to hire more staff to help reduce wait times for speech and language supports.
- An additional $10 million this year is being invested as part of the Special Incidence Portion (SIP) modernization to support students with extraordinarily high needs.
- School Facilities fund is providing $2.9 billion for operating, maintaining, renovating, and renewing school buildings
- Student Transportation funding is receiving an additional $80 An additional $80 million for a total of $1.3 billion, to better support reliable and safe transportation for students
- Mental Health funding is being increased by $14 million to $117.65 million to provide students with mental health services over the summer months, including access to school-based mental health professionals, targeted programs and supports year-round in response to recommendations from families and student trustees.
- Reading Support funding is allocating $68.68 million to hire over 600 specialized educators and provide increased reading supports; and $12.5 million for reading intervention support licences and $12.5 million for reading screening tools, so that every Senior Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2 child benefits from screening this coming school year
- Math Supports are receiving $34 million to support the hiring of 300 school math facilitators and $13.5 million to fund school board math leads with a singular mandate to improve math skills
- Building Security departments are receiving $10 million in new funding for school security infrastructure, including vape detectors
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In addition to the new funding model, our government is also investing a more than $1.3 billion investment to accelerate, build, and expand more schools across the province.
This historic investment supports the construction of 60 schools, more than doubling our previous funding commitments, and will create over 27,000 new student spaces and 1,750 child care spaces.
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Our government is committed to ensuring students receive the best educational experiences possible while staying healthy and limiting distractions. That’s why we are:
- Implementing zero-tolerance enforcement procedures for bans on tobacco, electronic cigarettes (vapes), nicotine products, recreational cannabis, alcohol, and illegal drugs.
- Banning cellphone use during school hours for students Grade 6 and under
- Restricting phone usage during learning periods for older students to uses approved by their teachers
- Setting up a task force comprising education partners, parents, students and health experts on the implementation of the Provincial Code of Conduct.
And more!
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