The following are post-secondary-related commitments from the Ontario Liberals’ platform, Kathleen Wynne’s Plan for Ontario:

IMPROVING ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION AND JOBS
We will remove barriers to college, university and jobs by:

• Continuing the 30% Off Tuition Grant: We will continue to offer the 30% Off Tuition rebate, which saves 260,000 students and their families up to $1,780 for university students and $820 for college students for each school year.
• Extending the Youth Jobs Strategy: We will add $38 million to the Youth Employment Fund in 2014-15 and extend the Strategy to September 2015, placing 30,000 young people in jobs that will move them into future careers.
• We will also make online learning easier, with Ontario Online offering courses for credit in 2015.

 

INVESTING IN UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE INFRASTRUCTURE
We will invest in new spaces to make higher education more accessible and renew campuses to support high-quality learning spaces. Projects include:

• Campus renewal: We will provide almost $500 million over 10 years to support deferred maintenance projects at colleges and universities.
• New campuses: We will provide funding to build new campuses and create spaces for 15,000 more students to study for undergraduate degrees closer to home, and to provide an economic boost to communities.

 

INCREASING APPRENTICESHIP OPPORTUNITIES AND TRAINING
We will continue to increase the number of apprentices training in Ontario, over and above the 120,000 already in apprenticeship this year, and partner with businesses that invest in on-the-job training for their current employees. To support the success of the College of Trades as it moves into its second year, we will appoint a special advisor to review the College’s application process and scope of practice of trades, including how the scope of practice relates to enforcement. We will pause the certification of new compulsory trades during this review.

 

BETTER PREPARING HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES FOR SUCCESS
We will better prepare students for the workforce by:

• Guaranteeing that every Grade 7-12 student has access to their own online career planning tool, so that students leave secondary school with a clear path for their initial postsecondary destination, be it apprenticeship training, college, Experience Ontario, university or the workplace.
• Supporting guidance counsellors to better prepare students for future careers.
• Replacing the current Grade 10 Careers curriculum with one that helps students explore possible careers in a more hands-on way.
• Working with schools, school boards, guidance counsellors and business and labour in communities to identify Skills Champions who can mentor students throughout school toward apprenticeship and a successful career.

 

FOCUSING ON LEARNING THAT RESPONDS TO TODAY’S SOCIETY AND ECONOMY
This includes:

• Promoting experiential learning: We will promote educational opportunities – things like learning outside the classroom, dual credits, co-operative education, specialist high skills majors, hands-on learning, online education, project-based learning, and other tools to prepare students for success after high school.