Simcoe-Grey MPP Brian Saunderson announced today the province will be putting up $57.7 million for a new junior kindergarten to Grade 12 Catholic school in Wasaga Beach.
Education minister Stephen Lecce joined Saunderson at the Wasaga Beach Arena and Library building for the announcement today (May 1).
"This is a big day!" said Saunderson. "It's been a time to get here, but certainly now that we're here, let's move forward as quickly as we can."
While there have been various groups advocating for a new high school in Wasaga Beach for at least two municipal election terms, the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board's proposal for the JK-12 school went to the province in the fall of 2023.
"This movement to get high school grades in Wasaga Beach has been going on for quite a while and, moving forward, it will also be an issue as we look at the redevelopment of Collingwood Collegiate Institute," said Saunderson.
The board's proposal envisioned the school adjacent to the new twin-pad arena and library building and for shared facilities between the school and arena/library.
Saunderson said the board's idea to leverage the new municipal asset helped make an attractive proposal for the province.
"They took the initiative to look at partnering and leveraging the asset here, and put together a strong business case that really made this project jump off the page," said Saunderson.
According to the town, that school plan also includes partnerships with Lakehead University and Canadore College for specialized programming targeted to skilled trade professions in childcare, construction, healthcare and hospitality.
The town has also confirmed the new school includes a theatre facility to be used by students during the day and by the community on evenings and weekends.
The new school will include 1,008 student spaces and 49 licensed childcare spaces in Wasaga Beach and Lecce said it should be built by 2027.
Shawn Cooper, the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board trustee for Clearview, Collingwood, Springwater, and Wasaga Beach said he felt like he needed to be pinched to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
"It was incredibly exciting to witness the evolution of a project like this," said Cooper, adding it is unprecedented for the local Catholic board.
"Not only will this school address enrollment pressures at St. Noel Chabanel [Catholic School], it will also provide this community with a much-needed high school so that students do not have to travel outside Wasaga Beach for faith-based learning."
St. Noel students were at the announcement and the school choir sang O Canada to start the event.
Lecce commended the school board, municipality and MPP for their advocacy of the new school.
"I know more about this project than I ever signed up for," jested Lecce. "But that just speaks to the volume of advocacy and the passion that you have."
The minister said this is a "historic investment" for publicly funded education in Wasaga Beach and said it was one of the largest schools announced in this round of capital funding.
While JK-12 schools are not unheard of, they are more rare than the traditional high school or elementary school models. Lecce said the Catholic school board proposed the combined school.
"We've got to built a modern school in this community," said Lecce. "A lot of K-12 schools, especially in growing parts of rural Ontario become more common ... we will support any project that delivers modern education to kids and gets better state-of-the-art school with STEM learning to communities in the smallest towns of Ontario."
"We agree we need to build more schools," said Lecce, promising to collaborate with school boards.
The province has committed to provide about $16 billion to support new school construction, repair and renewal over a ten-year period.
The new Catholic school does not, according to Saunderson and Lecce, take a public high school off the table.
"Brian [Saunderson] and I look forward to returning to the entire riding ... I assure you ... we will be back," said Lecce.
"We've always got our sleeves rolled up and this is a very quickly growing community," said Saunderson, referring to a need for redevelopment of Collingwood's high school. "We have to figure out how that business case goes together. So the discussions are ongoing for sure."
