The Ontario government has taken over eight school boards, a move that critics say could mean parents will have less input in their children’s education.Kate Dockeray/The Globe and Mail
The Ontario government has taken over eight school boards since 2025, including Peel District School Board, the second-largest school board in the province and most recently the York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB).
Education Minister Paul Calandra has cited governance and financial concerns for the takeovers and assumed control using Bill 33, but having decision-making powers in fewer hands has concerned teachers, parents, school boards and the opposition. It has also resulted in relieving some trustees and board members of their duties and suspending their honorariums.
Here’s what you need to know as the province assumes control over some of the public school boards.
What is Bill 33 and what does it mean for Ontario schools?
The Supporting Children and Students Act, also known as Bill 33, is a controversial piece of legislation that passed in November, 2025. It gives the Ontario government the power to take over school boards whenever doing so is deemed to be in the public interest, including oversight and control over a school board’s finances, governance and program performance.
It allows them to conduct school board audits, give or change school names and put a school board under supervision if there are concerns on matters of public interest.
Prior to Bill 33, the government could only put a board under supervision for financial mismanagement.
As of March, 2026, a total of eight school boards are under provincial supervision, which is roughly 1,640 schools or one-third of all the schools in Ontario.
What do school trustees and school boards do?
School trustees are elected members of the community that oversee policy, governance, finance and administration. They are student focused, ensuring all student needs are met and providing accommodations where needed.
Trustees are accountable to the province for proper conduct of their duties and powers, including implementation of provincial policy and provincially allocated funds.
School boards, however, manage multiple schools within a district. A school board appoints board members that set policy, approve or decline budgets, hire and evaluate management, and make sure everything is done in the best interest of students.
What are the implications for schools, trustees and board members?
Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra speaks at an announcement at a school in Ottawa, on Dec. 5, 2025.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
The government-appointed supervisors in the public system give the Ontario Ministry of Education the power to run the board while trustees are stripped of voting power and their honorariums are suspended.
In Catholic boards, trustees are still able to make decisions over financial issues but their honorariums are reduced.
Critics have said Mr. Calandra’s moves to take over school boards and sideline trustees erodes local democracy. They say boards are in dire financial shape because provincial funding is not keeping up with increasing needs or inflation.
“This level of government interference is unprecedented in Ontario’s education system and raises serious questions about the government’s real motives,” said Martha Hradowy, president of the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers’ Federation, which represents more than 60,000 education workers, in a statement in January.
“For years, education unions and school boards have been sounding the alarm about provincewide underfunding and staffing shortages. It is not clear how supervision addresses any of those pressing issues. In fact, it risks distracting them.”
School boards have urged collaboration and asked supervisors to continue communicating with trustees. However, trustees argue they have tried to address the province’s concerns and that losing local voices will hurt residents.
How are people reacting?
Parents say they are concerned this shift of power from local trustees to a provincial authority will affect the community and others across the city.
Globe reporters Laura Stone and Dave McGinn spoke with parents who have been affected by the changes, about how, they say, the connection between the school boards and communities has been severed.
Parents said they fear school boards will be less responsive to the community and that they will lack input in their children’s education. Trustees not only help parents with individual problems but have a deep understanding of the communities they represent and advocate on their behalf, one parent explained.
The Globe’s editorial board said this takeover makes sense as it aligns responsibility with authority. They said this would actually push the province to ensure school boards have the funding they need.
The editorial board said the school boards are weak and have been struggling with execution of policy and governance and this shift of power would be in the best interest to find balance.
Which Ontario school boards have been taken over?
The provincial government has so far assumed oversight and management over eight school boards, citing financial mismanagement with growing deficits and depleting reserves, governance issues and a general lack of responsibility.
→Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB)
In April, 2025, the Ontario government took control of the Thames Valley District School Board in London, Ont. The province appointed a supervisor to manage all financial and operational decisions after the board sent senior officials to a luxury retreat amid a multimillion-dollar deficit, which the government deemed “unacceptable.”
In August, 2024, the board spent nearly $40,000 to send 18 administrators to a three-day retreat in Toronto, including staying at the hotel located inside the Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays’ stadium. The board was then facing a $7.6-million budget deficit.
→Toronto District School Board (TDSB), the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) and the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board (DPCDSB)
The TDSB, alongside other public and Catholic school boards, will be appointed a supervisor to oversee their financial conduct.Fred Lum/the Globe and Mail
In June, 2025, Ontario took control of four school boards, including in Toronto and Ottawa. The province appointed supervisors at the Toronto District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, after earlier investigations into their finances.
Mr. Calandra said in a press conference these school boards have failed in their responsibilities to parents and students by losing sight of their core mission, which is to ensure student success.
“We’re strengthening oversight and accountability so that parents can have the confidence that every dollar is spent responsibly to directly benefit students,” Mr. Calandra said.
He said the supervisors will provide the ministry with regular updates on their work, focus on addressing the financial positions of the boards and identify where they can implement savings measures and improve operational efficiencies.
→Near North District School Board (NNDSB)
Last December, Mr. Calandra took over the sixth school board, Near North District School Board in North Bay, Ont., after a ministry review found “deep-rooted dysfunction” and mismanagement that affected public confidence.
The review came in response to major setbacks and delays in opening a new school for K-12 students in Parry Sound. The ministry also said “significant failures in governance and leadership” caused considerable disruption to student learning.
As a result, hundreds of elementary school students were sent to another school, while high-school students first switched to remote learning and were then forced to attend class in a building that was in the process of being torn down.
The Education Minister issued 15 binding directions to the school board to address the ministry’s recommendations, but the board failed to comply within the set timeline (a span of five to 15 days), leading to the decision to place NNDSB under supervision.
→Peel District School Board (PDSB) and the York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB)
In January, Ontario took control of the Peel District School Board, the second-largest school board in the province, citing concerns of infighting and long-term financial instability.
The ministry halted the school board’s plan to lay off 60 teachers to avoid disrupting learning and uncertainty for parents, students and teachers in the middle of the school year.
Ontario placed its eight school board, York Catholic District School Board, under supervision in March.
Mr. Calandra put the YCDSB on notice in late January and warned he would place it under supervision if it did not “appropriately respond” to pressing governance and financial concerns within two weeks.
Mr. Calandra has said the York Catholic board has depleted its reserves, refused to submit a “realistic financial recovery plan” and has had seven directors of education in nine years.
In response, the minister appointed supervisors for both the boards.
With reports from Dave McGinn, Laura Stone, Claire McFarlane and The Canadian Press.