Ontario announces $21.9M investment to build new French Catholic school in Mississauga, expanding student and child care spaces

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

MISSISSAUGA – As part of the province’s ongoing efforts to build and improve local schools, the Ontario government has provided the Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir with approval to issue the tender for the new École élémentaire catholique Mississauga to create more student spaces and child care spaces. This is supported by an investment of $21.9 million, which includes additional funding of $13.2 million.

École élémentaire catholique Mississauga will be located at 5450 Festival Drive in Mississauga.

Once completed, this project will deliver 294 elementary spaces and 73 licensed child care spaces for local families. The investment is part of Ontario’s commitment to providing about $16 billion to support school construction, renewal, and improvement over 10 years. Since 2018, the government has approved or supported the development of over 300 school- related projects including child care, of which more than 100 are actively under construction.

“The funding for a new École élémentaire catholique Mississauga is great news for our community,” said Sheref Sabawy, MPP for Mississauga—Erin Mills. “This investment will ensure families and students have access to a quality learning environment in the years ahead.”

Additionally, Ontario is taking action to ensure that school board capital assets are used effectively and efficiently to meet the needs of growing communities, support student learning and ensure value for taxpayer dollars. The Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, 2023 empowers decision-makers to build modern schools faster by better utilizing school capacity, reducing barriers for school boards to facilitate agreements for schools in multi-use buildings such as condo towers, and shortening planning time through design standardization when constructing, renovating, or making additions to schools.

“As a father, I understand that the local school really is the heart of the community, and that it’s so important for young families to have a school that’s close to home,” said Todd Smith, Minister of Education. “Our government is listening to hard-working moms and dads, which is why we are delivering a new, state-of-the-art École élémentaire catholique Mississauga for local families, along with increasing funding, staffing and a back-to-basics focus on reading, writing and math to help ensure students graduate with the fundamental skills they need to succeed.”

Highlights of the project include:

• 294 new student spaces
• 4 new child care rooms (73 new child care spaces)

“The opening of a new French Catholic elementary school in Mississauga is yet another defining moment for the growing Catholic French-speaking families in the area. Some 300 students will have access to a Catholic elementary school close to home,” says Estelle Ah- Kiow, trustee for Mississauga at the Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir. “What’s more, the building is providing space for a child care centre for some 73 children with a capacity of up to 10 infants, 15 toddlers and 48 preschoolers. We are proud that the children and the students can grow and flourish in a fully French-speaking environment. The region is rapidly growing and we anticipate that the construction will begin shortly. The Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir wishes to thank Ontario’s Ministry of Education and Canadian Heritage for ensuring the opening of a fourth Catholic French-speaking elementary school in Mississauga.”

“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 $190 billion over the next decade.”

QUICK FACTS

• 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.

• In 2023-24, the ministry provided renewal funding of approximately $1.4 billion to school boards to revitalize and renew aged building systems and components. The same amount has been allocated for the 2024-25 school year.

• 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.