CanadaHere’s what you need to know about the Supporting Children and Students Act and how it may affect your child’s education — and your say in it. Supporting Children and Students Act received royal assent on ThursdayNick Logan · CBC News · Posted: Nov 21, 2025 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 3 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government has passed the Supporting Children and Students Act, which will give it the power to put school boards under provincial supervision if boards, members and directors are not carrying out their duties “in an appropriate manner.” (Chris Young/The Canadian Press)A controversial new law that will give Ontario’s education minister more power over school boards and other facets of the education system has passed in the province’s legislature. Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government passed the Supporting Children and Students Act, also known as Bill 33, on Wednesday and it received royal assent a day later.The legislation grants Education Minister Paul Calandra the power to place school boards under provincial supervision when they “fall off the rails,” as he said Wednesday. But critics of Bill 33, including the opposition NDP, accuse the Ford government of “replacing local democracy with secrecy and partisan political control.”Here’s what you need to know about Bill 33 and how it may affect your child’s education — and your say in it. What are the basics? Bill 33 is actually aimed at amending other existing laws related to education, admissions and research at colleges and universities, and accountability and transparency at children’s aid societies. But the bill’s proposed changes to the Education Act could have significant effects on how school boards are operated and the future of elected trustees. In short, the legislation allows for the minister of education to investigate “matters of public interest” concerning whether school boards, members and directors are carrying out their duties “in an appropriate manner.” If the minister determines there is something taking place that is not in the public interest and a board is not complying with their directions, they could take control from the elected trustees and put it under a ministry-appointed supervisor. This has already happened with five of the province’s 72 school boards, including the Toronto District School Board and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.WATCH | Ontario’s Bill 33 passes, but not without protest:Ontario government passes controversial education bill The Ontario government has passed Bill 33, granting the education minister the power to appoint a supervisor to take over school boards and require school resource officer programs. CBC’s Lorenda Reddekopp has the details.Boards will also be subject to government oversight of their finances and performance, in addition to external auditors and auditing committees.There are also provisions in the act to require the board to provide greater access to school premises and implement school resource officers. The province also requires the education minister to approve changes to school names. What could it mean for your family?Hundreds of opponents crowded the grounds of Queen’s Park on Wednesday ahead of the vote in the legislature. But Paul Bennett, the chair of researchED Canada and a former school board trustee in Ontario, believes the political rhetoric will die down and it will continue to be business as usual in school classrooms and corridors. He says the trustee system has “many problems” and the legislation will improve school board accountability — not just to the government but also to parents. Firstly, he says, it will address issues of how taxpayers’ money is being managed and that boards and trustees aren’t spending inappropriately when they’re running deficits and having to lay people off. The government, he notes, also ordered the school boards already under supervision to open what are referred to as student and family support offices that are meant to address the concerns of parents and students.WATCH | Ontario’s education minister says the way schools are governed is ‘outdated’:Ontario’s education minister says he’s open to eliminating school board trusteesPaul Calandra has already appointed supervisors who have taken over five of Ontario’s biggest school boards, including the OCDSB. In an interview with CBC’s Kate Porter, he said the way schools are governed is “outdated” and “old” and the model is up for review. But Joel Westheimer, the research chair in democracy and education at the University of Ottawa and a CBC Radio education columnist, isn’t so sure about that — especially because Calandra has mulled getting rid of trustees altogether. Westheimer says school boards are “far from perfect” but he believes elected trustees give ordinary families “some degree of control” over education policy where they live. Parents, he says, “often have different interests than the Ministry of Education” — especially in rural areas, where families might have different needs than those living in major centres.Who’s now representing your interests?While the idea of the act may be to prevent corruption and mismanagement at the board level, Westheimer is concerned the provincial government could now have too much control. He worries about the government “reshaping schools to serve political agendas” rather than prioritizing what’s best for children’s education. And at a time when there is “diminishing trust in democratic institutions” he doesn’t see the benefit in potentially taking away public influence. Once that’s gone, he says, people may just accept it as “the new normal.” WATCH | Digging into the numbers behind Ontario school deficits:Two-thirds of school boards in Ontario are running a deficit or just breaking evenThe province took control of five boards earlier this year due to what it called financial mismanagement. Education Minister Paul Calandra has said the vast majority of Ontario’s 72 school boards are able to run effectively — many with a surplus. CBC’s Kate Porter has been digging into the numbers.Bennett, who is also an education columnist for Postmedia News in Atlantic Canada, says that path forward depends a lot on having an education minister who “knows the file [and] understands the issues.” But he admits there could be “a danger that too much power” might be vested in a minister who has a “different agenda” than what are considered legitimate matters of public interest. He thinks an alternative form of local governance, at the school level rather than districts, could give teachers and parents more authority.But he says there’s a need to better inform the public about “how schools are actually run” and who represents their interests. “The average parent only knows that trustees exist when there’s a proposal to abolish them,” he said.ABOUT THE AUTHORNick Logan is a senior writer with CBC based in Vancouver. He is a multi-platform reporter and producer, with a particular focus on international news. You can reach out to him at nick.logan@cbc.ca.With files from The Canadian Press
A new law gives Ontario more power over school boards. What does Bill 33 mean for your family?
