Ontario School Funding Declines as Support Staff Positions Face Cuts
Ontario’s public education system is facing mounting financial pressure as real per-pupil funding decreased again this year, according to a report from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario. Major teachers’ unions report that a funding shortfall of $6.5 million is directly impacting classrooms across the province, prompting widespread rallies on a Saturday afternoon in locations including Ottawa and Queen’s Park.
Teachers and support staff gathered to demand increased resources for classrooms dealing with complex behavioral needs. “I’m here to be able to have more funds to have more help in the classroom,” Josianne Dignard, a sixth-grade teacher in Casselman, told Le Droit. “We have students who are much more difficult to manage behaviorally and we don’t have help, so we are forced to evacuate our classrooms to ensure their safety.”
Support Staff Cuts Fuel Workplace Violence Concerns
Michel Gagnon, the francophone vice-president of the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU), states that 1,200 support staff positions have been cut across Ontario since August 30. Union representatives attribute rising incidents of physical violence against school personnel directly to these reductions in staffing.
“We see this with violence increasing,” Gagnon said, according to Le Droit. “The staff experiences physical violence every day. That is not something that is acceptable. Why does a student become violent? It is because they do not have support.”
While teaching positions have not faced the same immediate reductions, educators warn that the overall fiscal constraints compromise daily instruction. Sylvain Ducharme, vice-president of the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO), notes that the lack of funding has a direct effect on members and students. “This means that the staff can no longer provide the services they would like to provide as professionals,” Ducharme said, as reported by Le Droit.
School Board Elections See Reduced Candidate Numbers
Gagnon attributes the lower candidate turnout to the reduction of trustee responsibilities under provincial legislation. Bill 101, which has been enacted as the 2026 act giving priority to student success, curtails specific school board powers, particularly regarding financial expenditures. Alongside Ottawa and Toronto, rallies took place in London, Sudbury, and Thunder Bay to protest the ongoing funding shortfall.