Thirty-nine new childcare spaces are going to be created following an expansion of St Edmund’s Public School in Tobermory.
Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker announced the $600,000 investment by the Ontario government to support the project Thursday (Jan 27). Walker was joined by officials from the Bluewater School Board including Board Chair Jane Thomson, along with Northern Bruce Peninsula Mayor Milt McIver, Bruce County Warden Janice Jackson and officials from Tobermory Primary Place.
Once complete, the expansion will provide one toddler and one preschool room at St Edmund’s School through the province’s Early Years Capital Program.
The provincial government says it has committed over $600 million to support school and child care spaces through 78 school and child care related projects. As part of that, about $95 million is earmarked to create roughly 3,000 new child care spaces through renovations and additions at 55 child care centres in Ontario.
Bluewater School Board Chair and Trustee for the Northern Bruce Peninsula and South Bruce Peninsula says in a statement,
“Many thanks are owed to the ministry and MPP Bill Walker for supporting the long-term child care needs of the community, and our municipal partners at the County of Bruce and Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula for their hard work during this process. We look forward to the beginning of a long and rewarding partnership with the volunteers and staff of Tobermory Primary Place, and warmly welcome them to our school community. The addition of a modernized child care environment for our youngest learners and future students will benefit families on the peninsula for years to come.”
Meanwhile, Walker says in a statement, “This is terrific news for the entire community in Northern Bruce Peninsula and Tobermory. We have been waiting a long time for this news and I want to thank Minister of Education Stephen Lecce for his support in making this project a reality,” adding, “The COVID-19 outbreak has reminded us how important schools and child care are to students, parents and families, across the province. They are the heartbeat of our communities. They bring people together for the shared experience of learning.”
