The province is launching a review of outdoor education policies for every school board in Ontario after the death of a Toronto teen on a school-run canoe trip this summer.
Education Minister Mitzie Hunter also says the ministry will immediately increase funding to life-saving swimming programs and increase awareness about the programs for incoming Canadian residents.
The Toronto District School Board said Wednesday that 15 students on a canoe trip in Algonquin Park did not pass a required swimming test, including 15-year-old Jeremiah Perry, who died after disappearing in a lake during the trip.
Hunter says the review will look at school boards' compliance with their policies on outdoor education.
She adds that she has met with Perry's family and expressed her condolences, saying that no family should have to go through what happened.
The provincial review will be in addition to the TDSB's own review into its outdoor education policies after Perry's death.