Ontario Building New School in Port Elgin
Government supporting new schools and additions across the province with a $1.3 billion investment
January 28, 2025
PORT ELGIN — The Ontario government is investing $17.9 million for a new Port Elgin Elementary School. Lisa Thompson, MPP for Huron—Bruce, announced funding for the Bluewater District School Board project to help hard working families in Port Elgin, Town of Saugeen Shores.
This will support the creation of 409 elementary student spaces in Port Elgin as part of the government’s commitment to building modern learning spaces for Ontario students.
This project is part of $1.3 billion in funding to build new schools and expansions, including child care spaces, announced as part of the Ministry of Education’s Capital Priorities Program.
“I am proud to announce that our government is investing $17.9 million to fund a new elementary school in Port Elgin,” said Lisa Thompson, MPP for Huron-Bruce. “This investment in the Bluewater District School Board will provide modern, state-of-the-art facilities to support students’ learning and growth, while supporting hardworking families in Port Elgin and the Town of Saugeen Shores. Together, we are building a brighter future for the community.”
The ongoing investments in education and child care projects will result in over 25,000 new student spaces and more than 1,600 licensed child care spaces at school sites across Ontario.
“As a mother, I understand that the local school really is the heart of the community. It’s so important for young families to have a school that’s close to home,” said Jill Dunlop, Minister of Education. “Our government is proud to deliver a new Port Elgin Elementary School 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.”
Schools and child care centres are an essential piece of the community landscape. Funding these local infrastructure projects demonstrates that the government is meeting urgent needs to address growth related to demographic changes and housing development.
“Our government is investing in new schools and improved infrastructure across the province to support the needs of Ontario’s students, families, and growing communities.” said Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure. “These are part of our historic investment of more than $190 billion over the next ten years to build and deliver the critical infrastructure Ontarians deserve today, and for future generations to come.”
Port Elgin Elementary School will be located at a site to be acquired in Port Elgin.
QUOTES
“This is fantastic news for our future, because we are a fast-growing community, and as a fast-growing community, we are welcoming new and young families to our town everyday, and those families need great schools,” said Luke Charbonneau, Mayor of the Town of Saugeen Shores. “I would like to say a huge thank you to the Bluewater District School Board for all the work they have been doing on this, to MPP Thompson and the province for providing this funding, and to the parents, teachers and students from across our community who have been advocating for this for so long. This is going to be a positive development for our community, and it’s going to mean bright futures for all the young people of Saugeen Shores for generations to come.”
- Luke Charbonneau, Mayor of the Town of Saugeen Shores
“We are extremely pleased and excited to receive such incredible news from the Ministry of Education regarding a new growth school to serve students and families in the Port Elgin area,” says BWDSB Chair Jane Thomson. “Our staff have been diligently working to ensure a successful outcome for this business case application, and we are so appreciative of their efforts, along with the support of our community and municipal partners. A very special ‘thank you’ goes out to MPP Lisa Thompson and the Ministry of Education for recognizing the need for a new school in the growing and vibrant Port Elgin community.”
- Jane Thomson, Chair of the Bluewater District School Board
QUICK FACTS
- Ontario is meeting the needs of growing communities with over 200 new schools and additions underway that will create over 97,000 pupil spaces in the coming years.
- For the 2024-25 school year, the ministry has allocated renewal funding of approximately $1.4 billion to school boards to renew and improve schools.
- The investment is part of Ontario’s commitment to provide about $16 billion to support new school construction, renewal and improvement over 10 years.
- In December 2023, the Ministry of Education announced Ontario’s plan to help build schools faster through a transparent, accountable and more efficient process. School boards were encouraged to standardize the design of new school construction, identify opportunities to work together on joint-use school projects and bring forward shovel-ready proposals.
- 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.
- The government is committed to providing families with more affordable and accessible child care as part of the federal government’s national child care program. Effective January 1, 2025, Ontario has capped child care fees at $22 per day for families with children in programs enrolled in the Canada‑wide Early Learning and Child Care system.