Homeschooling in Alberta

What you must file

1. September 29You file

   Home Education Notification Form - Supervised by School Authority

   Each year. To receive the parent's portion (50%) of the home education grant, the parent must have notified and been accepted by an associate board or associate independent school no later than September 29 (for 2026/27, the September count date in the Funding Manual for School Authorities is September 29, 2026); a student is not eligible for funding if the home education program is accepted after September 29. The Home Education Regulation sets no calendar date for this notice, and a parent may start a home education program at any time. The date affects funding only, not the right to home educate.

   Goes to: A willing associate board or associate independent school

2. No fixed dateYou file

   Home Education Notification Form - Not Supervised by School Authority

   Each year, in a form and manner approved by the Minister and within the time required by the Minister; the regulation itself fixes no calendar date. The paper form is for mailed submission only and must include a copy of an identity document for the student and one for the parent or guardian. The other option is the online form in PASI, through myPass.

   Goes to: Minister of Education (Alberta Education, Field Services)

3. No fixed dateYou file

   Written description of the home education program (supervised route only, for any part of the program that does not follow the Alberta Programs of Study)

   Supervised route only, for any part of the program that does not follow the Alberta Programs of Study. It is Part D of the supervised notification form and is submitted to the proposed associate board or associate independent school. Under the Home Education Regulation s.3(6) it must include: (a) a list of the activities selected and an explanation of how they will enable the student to achieve the applicable outcomes, (b) the instructional methods and resources to be used, (c) the means of conducting evaluations of the student's progress, and (d) the name of the person instructing the program, if not the parent. If the parent asks, a teacher employed by the associate board or associate independent school must advise and help the parent prepare it.

   Goes to: The associate board or associate independent school

   Parent must also certify (s.3(5)(a)) that the selected activities will enable the student to achieve the applicable outcomes, and the school authority must accept the program.

4. No fixed dateYou keep

   Records of the parent's own evaluations

   AR 89/2019 s.4(1): conduct evaluations at regular intervals, keep a record of the methods and DATES, and keep dated samples of student work and a general record of the student's activities.

   Goes to: Kept by the parent, on both routes. If the Director investigates a program that is not supervised, the investigator may request information, documents and other records, and a parent who does not cooperate fully risks having the program terminated.

5. No fixed dateYou file

   Availability for the school authority's evaluations

   AR 89/2019 s.4(2)(b): at least 2 evaluations of the student's progress in each school year, conducted by a teacher employed by the authority, at a mutually agreeable time and place, with the parent present if they choose.

   How often: twice per school year

   Goes to: Associate board or associate independent school

   Supervised route only.

6. No fixed dateYou file

   Notice of significant changes to the program

   Supervised route only. Whenever a parent who gave a written description of the program makes a significant change to the program, the parent must tell the associate board or associate independent school.

   How often: as needed

   Goes to: The associate board or associate independent school

7. No fixed dateYou file

   Availability for a regular review of the student's achievement

   Supervised route only. The parent must be available for a regular review of the student's achievement with the associate board or associate independent school, at a time and place both agree on.

   Goes to: Associate board or associate independent school

   The regulation lists this separately from making the student available for the teacher's evaluations.

8. No fixed dateYou file

   Receipts for the parent's share of home education funding

   Supervised route only, and only if the parent takes the parent's share of the funding. The parent must give the associate board or associate independent school receipts showing how the funding was spent. Parents have up to two school years to be reimbursed for eligible expenses incurred during a school year.

   How often: as needed

   Goes to: The associate board or associate independent school

   The funding may be used only for programs of study, instructional materials or other resources related to the home education program, and not as personal pay or for travel costs or other expenses a parent of a student in school would usually pay. Instructional materials bought with it, other than materials that cannot be used again, must be returned within one year after the student finishes the course if the associate board or associate independent school asks for them within that year. A parent may decline all or part of the funding. In a shared responsibility program, the school authority may use some or all of the parent's share for courses and required materials only with the parent's signed agreement. To transfer some or all of the parent's share to the associate school authority, the parent signs a Transfer of Parental Portion Declaration Form, a separate form for each school year.

9. No fixed dateYou file

   Written notice when ending a supervised program

   When the parent ends a supervised home education program and enrolls the student in a school. The regulation says a parent may terminate a supervised program by giving written notice of the termination to the associate board or associate independent school and enrolling the student in a school operated by a board or in an independent school.

   How often: as needed

   Goes to: The associate board or associate independent school