Protecting Our Children’s Education

Following years of disruption, our priority is to keep kids in class and learning. We have an obligation to ensure our students remain in class, which is why we’re investing more for our publicly funded schools, our children and more for Ontario parents — including a new $200 support for every school-aged child in Ontario.

Our government is delivering $365 million in direct financial relief to parents, through one-time funding of $200 for school-aged children up to 18 years old and $250 for children and youth up to age 21 with special needs. This funding will focus on helping students catch up, provide school tutoring, implement new tools and create new programs for math, and improve literacy-including reading and writing.

As a father of three, I am proud that our government continues to take action to keep our children learning and ensure Ontario students receive the support they need to catch up in school.

To avoid disruptions, our government is also introducing the Keeping Students in Class Act 2022. This act will establish a fair four-year collective agreement with CUPE education workers across Ontario.

It is entirely unacceptable that CUPE is refusing to compromise on its unreasonable demand for a nearly 50 per cent increase in compensation, representing a nearly $19 billion price tag, if extended across the sector, to the Ontario taxpayer.

We are proposing an increase to CUPE education workers salaries by 2.5 per cent for those who earn below $43,000 for reach year of the contract. It will also increase CUPE education workers’ salaries by 1.5 per cent for employees who earn over $43,000 for each year of the contract.

Following strikes and pandemic disruptions over the past three years, students are finally back in class and catching up on their learning.

We are delivering on our promise to parents to ensure children will remain in class.