TORONTO — Ontario elementary school teachers will be getting $750 purchasing cards starting in the next school year for classroom supplies, Premier Doug Ford announced Wednesday.

Ford said he has on numerous occasions encountered teachers at the dollar store who were buying supplies using their own money, and they shouldn’t have to do that.

“The days of teachers having to put their hands in their own pockets to pay for school supplies, those days are done,” he said at a press conference.

“I’m just so proud,” Ford added later. “I think this is the greatest thing I think we’ve ever done for public education.”

Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario president David Mastin said teachers will be pleased to see the investment in classroom supplies, but the government shouldn’t toot its own horn too much, as having classrooms well-stocked with tissues and pencils should just be a given.

“The government is trying to make us believe that this is a gift that’s being given prior to what is going to be probably a very contentious round of central bargaining,” he said.

“We shouldn’t even be talking about this. This should be a foregone conclusion.”

Education Minister Paul Calandra said the ministry does provide funding that boards use for classroom supplies.

“There are some resources that have been given to our boards to provide funding, on average, about $300, but it doesn’t always get to the teachers,” he said.

The province is setting up a website through which teachers can make their purchases of supplies such as arts and crafts materials, stationery and paper products, posters and classroom decor, and paper towels and tissues. Those materials will come at a reasonable cost, due to the bulk purchasing power of the province, Calandra said.

The government will send teachers a survey Wednesday so they can give input on which supplies they would like to be available through the purchasing website, he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2026.

Allison Jones and Liam Casey, The Canadian Press