Putting Student Achievement First Act, 2026

SUMMARY FROM THE OFFICIAL REGISTRY

What you need to know

SCHEDULE 1 CHILD CARE AND EARLY YEARS ACT, 2014 The Schedule makes the following amendments to the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 : 1. The Minister is given additional power to support operators of child care and early years programs and services and service system managers. 2. The Minister is given power to assign an Ontario education number to a child who has not already been assigned one, if requested to do so by the child’s parent. SCHEDULE 2 EDUCATION ACT The Schedule amends the Education Act . Among the amendments are the following: 1. The Minister is given power to establish policies and guidelines, i. for the assessment of student achievement, ii. respecting board expense policies, iii. related to the use of educational materials in instruction, and iv. related to boards’ public communications. 2. Paragraph 31 of subsection 8 (1) and subsections 169.1 (2.1) and (2.2) of the Act are repealed, removing the Minister’s power to establish policies and guidelines respecting school climate surveys and the related requirement that boards use those surveys to collect information from pupils, staff, parents and guardians to monitor and evaluate the policies. 3. The existing regulation-making powers respecting school board controlled entities is amended to require the Minister’s approval regarding such entities in certain circumstances. 4. Currently, the number of members on district school boards is determined under the Act, subject to the regulations. The amendments provide that the number provided for in the regulations shall be between 5 and 12. 5. Amendments are also made respecting the regulation-making powers relating to honoraria for members of boards. 6. The Schedule amends section 195 of the Act to require a board to obtain the Minister’s approval before acquiring a school site or other land. A new process is established under which a board must submit a request for the Minister’s approval to acquire land or to apply for approval to expropriate land, and the Minister must respond within a prescribed time period, if any. 7. Amendments are made to subsections 195 (4), (5) and (6) of the Act to expand the types of work to which the provisions apply, including additions, alterations, improvements and repairs. New subsections 195 (7) to (9) permit the Minister to establish policies respecting the use of school sites, the requirements for obtaining Minister’s approvals and the addition to, or erection, alteration, improvement or repair of, buildings. 8. New section 195.0.1 authorizes the Minister to give directions to a board, or to select a person or body to take control of the management of an addition to, or erection, alteration, improvement or repair of, a building, if the Minister is of the opinion that the board has not complied or is unlikely to comply with policies or regulations. The powers and obligations of a selected person or body, the board’s duty to co ‑ operate and the Minister’s authority to issue directions are set out. The Minister may also require the board to pay fees and expenses incurred in relation to an order made under the section. 9. Currently, the Act provides that where a board is subject to a vesting order, the ability of the board to enter into certain agreements or approve of the issuing of certain instruments is subject to the approval of the Minister. The Schedule amends the Act to provide that only the Minister, exercising the powers of the board, may enter into such agreements or require the issuing of such instruments. Related amendments are made, including to regulation-making powers. The Act is also amended to require certain procedural steps to be taken when the Minister provisionally exercises the power to make a vesting order. 10. Provisions are added respecting the situations where a board is required to obtain the Minister’s approval of its estimates. 11. Divisions C and F of Part IX of the Act are repealed. 12. The Minister is given power to assign an Ontario education number to a child who has not already been assigned one, if requested to do so by the child’s parent or guardian. 13. Various amendments are made respecting the role of the director of education in English-language district school boards. The director of education in such a board is the chief executive officer of the board and shall be referred to by the board as the chief executive officer of the board for all purposes. The director of education is required to appoint a chief education officer. The director of education is a member of the board but is not entitled to exercise a binding vote.