Premier Dalton McGuinty will announce tomorrow that nearly 600 schools will offer full-day kindergarten for up to 35,000 students starting in September, CTV News has learned.

The government has earmarked $500 million for the first year of the program and plans to move forward despite the province’s unprecedented deficit of $25 billion this year.

Priority will be given to low-income neighbourhoods, those that have available space and those in greatest need.

Every school board in the province is expected to have at least one school offering the program, which will have capacity for about 35,000 students in fall 2010 and jump to 50,000 in 2011.

Eventually, all eligible four and five-year-olds will be able to enroll in full-day kindergarten by 2015. The estimated cost at that point will be $1.5 billion per year.

McGuinty is expected to announce further details at a news conference in Chatham. The list of schools can be found here.

With files from The Canadian Press