Rae Announces New Addition to Listowel St. Mary’s Catholic School
[Listowel, ON] – Today, Matthew Rae, MPP for Perth-Wellington announced $5.8 million towards a new addition to the St. Mary’s Catholic School in Listowel. The addition is poised to add an additional 150 student spaces and 98 childcare spaces.
“Listowel is one of the fastest growing communities in Perth County, and I am focused on working with our local school boards and municipalities to ensure we have the necessary investments to support this growth,” said MPP Rae. “Our provincial government will continue to invest in our rural education system to ensure families can access high quality education and affordable childcare. Today’s investment reinforces that Listowel and North Perth will continue to be a great place to raise a family.”
This project is part of a $1.3 billion plan that more than doubles funding to build new schools and expansions, including childcare spaces, announced by Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, as part of the Capital Priorities Program.
The overall investment, which is the highest ever made in a single year, supports the creation of more than 27,000 new student spaces and more than 1,700 licensed childcare spaces at schools across Ontario.
“Our government is more than doubling the funding to build new schools, which represents the single largest investment in school building in Ontario history,” said Minister Lecce. “We are stepping up with a massive investment to build the homes, schools, and communities our province needs, and to ensure children have access to state-of-the-art schools close to home that gives them real life and job skills to succeed in the future. I want to reiterate my thanks to MPP Mathew Rae for his relentless advocacy for local families.”
“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.”
Funding as provided by the Ministry of Education:
| School | New Student Spaces | New Childcare Spaces | Funding Amount |
| St. Mary’s Catholic School (Listowel) | 150 | 98 | $5,800,000 |
Additional Quotes
“The Board extends its deepest gratitude to the Government of Ontario for funding an addition at St. Mary’s School in Listowel and for expanding daycare opportunities for the community. This partnership will benefit the community of Listowel by expanding access to high quality, faith-based education; this project is a sizable and important investment in our community.”
– Chris Roehrig, Director of Education, Huron Perth Catholic District School Board
Quick Facts:
- These investments follow recent local announcements for additional student and childcare spaces:
- $8.8 million for Listowel Eastdale Public Elementary School
- $2.9 million for Milverton Public School
- $5.2 million for St. Joseph Catholic School (Fergus)
- The investment is part of Ontario’s commitment to provide about $16 billion to support new school construction, repair, and renewal over 10 years.
- 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.
- 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.