$45.8M announced for new schools, child-care spaces in Waterloo region

The Ontario government has announced $45.8 million will go to build three new schools in Waterloo region and create additional child-care spaces.

It will mean 1,665 elementary student spaces and 234 child-care spaces. They include:

• A new public school with 611 elementary and 73 child care spaces in a new subdivision in Breslau on Loxleigh Lane.
• A new Catholic school with 527 elementary spaces in Kitchener with the location yet to be decided.
• A new Catholic school with 527 elementary and 88 child care spaces on Thaler Avenue in Kitchener.
• A child-care addition with 73 child care spaces at École élémentaire L'Harmonie in Waterloo.

Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Mike Harris made the virtual announcement Wednesday with Education Minister Stephen Lecce.

Harris said in a release that the new school and child-care spaces will give families in the region "more choice and flexibility."

Loretta Notten, director of education for the Waterloo Catholic District School Board, said in the release that they've seen growing enrolment numbers and the schools are necessary to "meet the needs within our system."

Benoit Fortin, vice-chair of Conseil scolaire Viamonde, the board that runs École élémentaire L'Harmonie, said the funding shows a "commitment to support the growth of the francophone community in Ontario and is helping to address the pressing need for French-language services in the Waterloo region."