KAILIE OORTWYN, Office of Laurie Scott, MPP
SUNDERLAND: The Ontario government is investing $1.6 million to create 49 new child care spaces at Sunderland Public School, to help working families in Brock Township. This investment is part of the government’s commitment to support affordable and accessible child care in communities across the province.
Once complete, the project will provide one infant room, one toddler room and one preschool room, through the province’s Early Years Capital Program.
“Our government is investing in the next generation of Brock Township and delivering real support to hard-working families with a $1.6 million investment [which] will create 49 new child care spaces,” explained Laurie Scott, MPP for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock. “We know the pandemic has left families in need of additional supports, and that’s why our government introduced the Ontario Child Care Tax Credit and provided over $1.7 billion in direct support to families during the pandemic.”
The expansion at Sunderland Public School, in Durham District School Board, is part of a province-wide investment of more than $600 million, to support school and child care spaces. The overall investment will support 78 school and child-care-related 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.
“Access to childcare is vital, to support our students and their families. I want to thank the Province of Ontario and welcome this timely investment to increase childcare capacity at Sunderland Public School. We look forward to starting construction on this project,” stated Chair Carolyn Morton, Trustee for the Townships of Brock, Scugog, Uxbridge.
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 [which] 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 built upon Ontario’s existing and well-established child care infrastructure, giving families more choices and flexibility.
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 Durham District School Board has benefited from an investment of $9.4 million for ventilation improvements and has over 660 HEPA filter units in place.