Ontario Expanding Quaker Road Public School in Welland
Welland – The Ontario government is investing $10.4 million in the District School Board of Niagara for an addition at Quaker Road Public School, helping working families in Welland. This investment, announced by Sam Oosterhoff, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education and MPP for Niagara West, will support the creation of 331 student spaces and 49 licensed child care spaces as part of the Ford Government’s commitment to building state-of-the-art schools for Ontario youth.
The project is part of a provincewide investment of nearly $500 million to support new school and child care spaces that were recently announced by Hon. Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. The overall investment will support the creation of 37 school related projects which include 23 child care centres. This funding will add nearly 15,700 new student spaces and 1,502 licensed child care spaces at schools across Ontario.
“The new addition at Quaker Road Public School in Welland is great news for Niagara,” said MPP Oosterhoff.
“This investment will provide choice and flexibility for families and new opportunities for the children of Welland. Our government remains strongly committed to investing in our schools to ensure that hard-working parents are supported, and our young people acquire the knowledge and skills they need to achieve lifelong success.”
“We are building new schools, building more affordable child care spaces, and building hope and opportunity for Ontario students as they learn in more normal and safer classrooms,” said Minister Lecce.
“We believe that students deserve to learn in-person in state-of-the-art facilities that are internet connected, accessible, with modern ventilation systems, which is why our government is delivering a major investment that accelerates construction to get it done for parents, students, and communities.”
“Under Premier Ford’s leadership, our government is delivering more schools across the province to support the needs of Ontario’s students, families and growing communities,” said Hon. Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure.
“By cutting red tape and introducing the Rapid Build pilot project to expedite procurement and construction processes to build better schools faster, we are ensuring that students reap the benefits of state-of-the-art learning facilities sooner and have access to education in a safe and healthy environment. These investments are just one of the ways we are building critical infrastructure – such as schools, hospitals, long-term care homes and public transit – that Ontarians rely on with a budget over $148 billion over the next decade.”
The investment is part of the Ontario government’s commitment to provide $14 billion to support school construction over ten years. Since 2018, the government has approved nearly 200 new projects and there are currently more than 300 child care and education building-related projects in development, with more than 100 actively under construction.
“Welland is home to thousands of wonderful people, with much of our growing city made up of families who have just moved here – and soon, Welland will be home to many more families who are expected to come,” said Sue Barnett, Trustee for Welland and Chair of the District School Board of Niagara.
“We are grateful to the province for helping us provide our school community with the facilities they deserve, and for investing in Quaker Road Public School, and in Welland.”
“The City of Welland is growing quickly and steadily,” said Warren Hoshizaki, Director of Education at the District School Board of Niagara.
“At Quaker Road, a school that served 353 students just two years ago in 2019, is now serving almost 570 students. By adding 15 modern classrooms and a sparkling new gymnasium, we are also adding more opportunity for students to learn, engage and thrive in an excellent environment.”
Highlights of the Quaker Road Public School project include:
- 331 elementary student spaces,
- 49 new licensed child care spaces,
- New replacement gymnasium.
Quaker Road Public School is located at 333 Quaker Road in Welland.