Capital Investments – Improving Ontario's Schools


Capital Investments – Improving Ontario's Schools

Since 2003, the Ontario government has invested $11.6 billion to make schools better places to learn. When students are in good learning environments, they can focus on learning and personal achievement.

Priority Capital Investments

In January 2013, the Ministry announced over $700 million in Capital Priority and Full- Day Kindergarten funding to support school boards' Capital Priority projects needed in the next three years. These include building new schools and additions/retrofits to address enrolment growth, to support full-day kindergarten, to replace schools in poor condition and to support school consolidations.

A complete list of the 39 new schools and 48 additions/retrofits funded by this investment can be found here: New Schools and Additions

This funding is in addition to the more than $1 billion in new capital funding over three years that was announced in 2011-12. This included:

  • $150 million a year for three years for School Condition Improvement to address school renewal needs.
  • $650 million allocated in 2011 for school boards' Capital Priority projects.

Full-Day Kindergarten

The government has provided just over $1.4 billion in capital funding since 2010 to support the full-day kindergarten (FDK) program. This funding is used by school boards to create the extra classrooms required to accommodate the program and to support the first-time equipping needs of new FDK classrooms. This funding supports the creation of close to 3,400 new kindergarten classrooms, in 3,675 schools, through additions and major retrofits.

FDK is scheduled to be fully implemented by September 2014.

Good Places to Learn

The Ontario government's Good Places to Learn program was launched in 2005 to address the backlog of urgent school renewal needs and the need for new schools around the province. Projects included building new schools and expanding and retrofitting existing school facilities. Highlights of this investment include:

  • $2.3 billion for the backlog in school renewal (Good Places to Learn Stages 1-4).
  • $2.5 billion for new schools and additions to address Primary Class Size, school condition, growth, expanding access to French-language education, and other capital priority projects.

As of fall 2012:

  • More than 27,000 school renewal projects, which include replacing roofs, windows and boilers, are completed or underway in schools across the province to reduce the backlog of renewal needs and make schools more energy efficient.
  • New schools and additions have been built to:
    • address new residential growth
    • to support the reduction in primary class sizes
    • replace schools that are in poor condition
    • support the consolidation of underutilized and/or poor condition schools
    • address the unique needs of French-language school boards.

Greening Ontario's Schools

The government has provided $550 million to make schools more energy efficient, while supporting a stronger and greener economy. This Energy Efficient Schools investment included:

  • $25 million for energy audits, studies and other non-capital costs
  • $75 million for small equipment (interval meters, new lighting systems, automation systems, etc.)
  • $300 million for energy-reducing renovations (roofs, windows, boilers, etc.)
  • $150 million for 35 projects involving renovations and retrofits of existing schools.

The government also invested $50 million for public school boards to reduce energy costs in schools by installing renewable energy technologies for heating or cooling schools or generating electricity. This investment is supporting 135 projects in 126 schools (PDF, 20 KB). The projects cover a range of renewable energy technologies, including:

  • small-scale wind projects to generate electricity for use in schools
  • solar photovoltaic to generate electricity
  • solar thermal for heating (air or water)
  • geothermal systems for heating and cooling

These projects will help green the energy supply and help school boards save money on energy costs or earn revenue by selling electricity back to the grid. By reinvesting savings and revenue into local schools, boards will have more money to support student success. Solar panels and wind turbines can sell electricity back to the grid through the microFIT Program, an important part of the Green Energy Act.

In addition, the Green Schools Pilot Initiative invested $20 million in a variety of innovative green products and technologies in more than 150 Ontario schools. Learn more about these pilot projects across the province.

Quick Facts:

  • There are over 4,900 publicly funded schools in Ontario (4,000 elementary and 920 secondary schools).
  • These schools represent 280 million square feet or 2.2 million pupil places.
  • Ontario's elementary and secondary schools have significant energy costs – nearly half a billion dollars each year.
  • More than 2,600 publicly funded schools will be made more energy efficient to give kids better places to learn and help boards save energy and reduce costs.
  • Since 2003, 480 new schools have opened across the province with 130 new schools planned and/or under-construction.