Ontario teachers demand province increase education funding

Ethan Lang · CBC News

· Posted: May 24, 2025 5:04 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

Teachers, parents and students rallied extracurricular Queen's Park Saturday to telephone connected the provincial authorities to walk much connected education, saying existent backing volition effect successful programming cuts that volition wounded students.

In the province's caller 2025-2026 fund released past week, the authorities acceptable speech $30.3 billion, calling it a grounds investment.

But Mary Fraser-Hamilton, a teacher successful the Peel District School Board and organizer with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF), says it's not astir enough.

"When you really set it for inflation, it's pennies. But connected apical of that, we cognize that the needs successful schoolhouse are truthful overmuch greater present than they utilized to be," she told CBC Toronto astatine the rally. 

"You person superior intelligence wellness needs, unit successful schools connected the rise, and nary of this backing is going to statesman to code that," Fraser-Hamilton said.

Other teachers told CBC Toronto that underfunding is starring to larger people sizes and teachers taking connected roles extracurricular their occupation descriptions.

In a report past year, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives recovered that Ontario's halfway acquisition backing has dropped by $1,500 per pupil since 2018, a fig the authorities has disputed.

Government scrutinizing schoolhouse committee spending

Though the authorities has expressed concerns that existing funds are being misspent. 

Earlier this year, the state launched investigations into the finances of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) and Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB). TDSB trustees are presently considering shuttering pools and laying disconnected instructors to assistance curtail its $58-million deficit.

The state besides appointed a supervisor to oversee the Thames Valley District School Board aft an investigation recovered instances of mismanagement.

"We expect each schoolhouse boards crossed the state to walk each dollar of these funds straight connected students, parents, and teachers," Education Minister Paul Calandra's property secretary, Emma Testani, said successful an email.

"While we proceed to marque these important investments, we volition beryllium relentless successful holding schoolhouse boards accountable for however they walk these funds," she said.

WATCH | As Ontario audits schoolhouse board finances, absorption says acquisition underfunded: 

Provincial NDP Leader Marit Stiles, who was astatine Saturday's rally, said the state is utilizing the findings astatine Thames Valley to warrant little spending and walk the subordinate to schoolhouse boards to chopped programming.

"They download the work onto boards to someway marque cuts that aren't going to interaction students and to deterioration the work for that. And it truly is the government's responsibility," she said. "This is simply a signifier with this government."

That aligns with the presumption of the OSSTF, which said successful a connection that the Ford government's caller fund "does small to code much than a decennary of chronic underfunding successful Ontario's nationalist acquisition system."

Over 40 per cent of Ontario schoolhouse boards are facing "serious deficits," the OSSTF connection said.

"The halfway acquisition backing announcement whitethorn see increases connected paper, but the world is that these increases are obscurity adjacent capable to code the fund pressures facing our schools," OSSTF president Karen Littlewood said successful the statement. 

One pupil says he's already seeing the effects of provincial underfunding successful the classroom. 

Raheem White, a people 11 pupil and trustee astatine the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, said Saturday that his people size successful Grade 9 was astir 25, but it's present pushing 35.

"Two weeks ago, 1 of my teachers asked maine for my sanction and I've been successful the people since February," helium said. "And I don't blasted the teacher actually, due to the fact that if you person 35 kids and you're teaching 3 courses, it's benignant of hard to retrieve each their names."