Ontario Opening Two Expanded Schools in Ottawa

The expansions at École secondaire catholique Paul-Desmarais and Collège catholique Mer Bleue are now open, providing students with innovative and modern learning spaces for a high-quality education.

NEWS September 4th,2024

Today, Stéphane Sarrazin, MPP for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, announced that the new expansions at École secondaire catholique Paul-Desmarais and Collège catholique Mer Bleue have welcomed students for the 2024-25 school year. These additions are part of Ontario’s broader initiative to enhance local educational infrastructure, supported by a substantial investment of $27.2 million from the province to the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est.

These projects deliver 732 secondary spaces for local families for the 2024-25 school year. The investment is part of Ontario’s commitment to providing about $16 billion to support school construction, renewal and improvement over 10 years. Since 2018, the government has approved or supported the development of over 300 school-related projects including child care, of which more than 100 are actively under construction.

“The completion of the new additions at École secondaire catholique Paul-Desmarais and Collège catholique Mer Bleue in Ottawa is very welcome news for our community,” said MPP Stéphane Sarrazin. “This investment will ensure families and students have access to a quality learning environment in the years ahead.”

Additionally, Ontario is taking action to ensure that school board capital assets are used effectively and efficiently to meet the needs of growing communities, support student learning and ensure value for taxpayer dollars. The Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, 2023 empowers decision-makers to build modern schools faster by better utilizing school capacity, reducing barriers for school boards to facilitate agreements for schools in multi-use buildings such as condo towers, and shortening planning time through design standardization when constructing, renovating, or making additions to schools.

“As a mother, I understand that the local school really is the heart of the community, and that 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 listening to parents, which is why we took action, and we are now proud to deliver these critical expansions at École secondaire catholique Paul-Desmarais and Collège catholique Mer Bleue for Ottawa 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.” 

Highlights of the projects include:

École secondaire catholique Paul-Desmarais addition

  • Located at 5315 Abbott St. East in Ottawa.
  • 389 new student spaces

Collège catholique Mer Bleue addition

  • Located at 6401 Renaud Rd. in Ottawa.
  • 343 new student spaces

“Under Premier Ford’s leadership, we’re building more state-of-the-art schools to support the needs of Ontario’s students, families and growing communities. By investing in innovative and modern learning spaces, we’re ensuring students have access to the quality education that will provide them with lifelong skills and education in a safe and healthy environment,” said Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure. “These investments are one of the ways we’re delivering on our promise to build Ontario, with an infrastructure budget of more than $190 billion over the next decade.”

« Au nom du Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est (CECCE), je tiens à exprimer notre profonde gratitude envers le ministère de l’Éducation pour son appui précieux dans le financement des projets d’agrandissement à l’École secondaire catholique Paul-Desmarais et au Collège catholique Mer Bleue. Grâce à ces investissements, nous avons pu accueillir 389 nouveaux élèves à Paul-Desmarais et 343 à Mer Bleue, permettant ainsi à un plus grand nombre de jeunes francophones de bénéficier d’une éducation de qualité en français. Avec près de 28 000 élèves, le CECCE ne cesse de croître, et il est essentiel de pouvoir offrir des environnements éducatifs à la fine pointe pour inspirer chaque élève à découvrir ses passions, à développer ses talents et à s’investir dans l’humanité. » 

Quick Facts:

  • Since 2018, the Ontario government has invested more than $3.6 billion in capital construction projects in education, including 139 new schools, 109 additions and renovations to existing facilities, creating more than 98,000 student spaces and over 8,000 new licensed child care spaces.
  • For the 2024-25 school year, the ministry will provide renewal funding of approximately $1.4 billion to school boards to revitalize and renew aged building systems and components.
  • 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.
  • Ontario secured a $13.2 billion agreement with the federal government that will lower fees for families to an average of $10 a day for children under the age of six under the Canada‑wide Early Learning and Child Care system.

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Contact Info

Noémie Prevost

Communications and public relations

Office of MPP Stéphane Sarrazin

613-677-8347

noemie.prevost@pc.ola.org