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Homeschooling in Ontario

What Ontario actually asks of a family teaching their own children. Written plainly, and honest where the answer is that nobody asks for anything.

CanadaFiling required

Who is in charge

District school board (the board in whose jurisdiction the child last attended school). Ministry policy is PPM 131.

Who actually reviews your child

The school board (administratively). PPM 131 states boards should NORMALLY not investigate. Escalation is to the Provincial School Attendance Counsellor under Education Act s.24(2).

What you must file

Written notification of intent to home school

Initial: on deciding to home school. Continuing: in writing each year PRIOR TO SEPTEMBER 1.

Goes to: The district school board

Letter must state each child's name, gender and date of birth, plus the home telephone number and address, and be signed by the parent(s).

Not required, but often assumed

Education plan, progress report, portfolio, test scores
Not required. Only if the board has reasonable grounds to SUSPECT the child is not receiving satisfactory instruction may it investigate, and then it may ask the parent to meet or supply written information about curriculum, instructional schedule, mater

The words a reviewer uses

The Ontario Curriculum (Ministry of Education / dcp.edu.gov.on.ca)

Overall Expectation · Specific Expectation · Strand · Achievement Chart

The part the paperwork does not cover

Filing on time is the easy half. The harder half is the year in between: showing what your child actually learned, in words the reviewer recognises, without turning your home into a school.

That is what this app is for. You say what your child did, in a sentence. It maps that to the real curriculum for Ontario and builds the record you can hand over the day someone asks. See how it works.

Start your record

Other places in Canada

AlbertaBritish ColumbiaManitobaNew BrunswickNewfoundland and LabradorNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaNunavutPrince Edward IslandQuebecSaskatchewanYukon
Read at the government's own source. Every requirement above was checked word for word against the authority's own page or statute, on the date shown.
Read at the source on 2026-08-28: Policy/Program Memorandum 131, ontario.ca. Its words: parents 'should give notification each year in writing prior to September 1 to the school board in whose jurisdiction their child last attended school', and 'Normally, the board should not investigate the matter.' PPM 131 was issued 17 June 2002 and is in effect until revoked or modified, so the date above is when WE read it, not when it last changed.
Check it yourself: the authority's own page.