Parents have several legal rights and responsibilities related to their children’s education and schooling. These rights and obligations are governed by laws such as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Ontario Family Law Act, and the Ontario Education Act.

What are the fundamental duties of parents?

Parents have a basic legal obligation to ensure the well-being of their child. Both the Child, Youth and Family Services Act and the Family Law Act address the key fundamental duties of parents in Ontario. These include:

• Providing necessities: Parents are responsible for providing their children with necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. This obligation is known as the duty of support.
• Protection: Parents have a duty to protect their children from harm, abuse, or neglect. This includes protecting their physical, emotional, and psychological well-being.
• Financial support: Parents are responsible for financially supporting their children until they reach the age of majority or become financially independent.

Refer to the Family Law section of Legal Line for more information regarding a parent or guardian’s rights and responsibilities.

What are a parent’s duties regarding their children’s education?

As per the Education Act, parents are required to ensure that their children attend school from age 6 to 18 or until they have graduated from high school. Ontario’s school system consists of 4 publicly-funded school systems (English Public, English Catholic, French-language Public and French-language Catholic), private schools and homeschooling. A child under 6 can attend school, however, this is optional. Parents must either enroll their children in a publicly funded school, private school, or provide an appropriate home education program (homeschooling).

What are the rights of a parent regarding their child’s education?

The right of parents to make decisions about their child’s upbringing, which includes their education, can be found in provincial, federal and UN laws. This right specifically refers to the right to choose what kind schooling a child receives and the right to be informed.

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Under Section 2(a) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms parents have the constitutional right:

(iv) to determine all aspects of their children’s education, including choosing a religious education.

This right can be restricted when these decisions go against the best interest of the child.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 26  states that:

(1) Everyone has the right to education.

(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Access to student records

Under the Ontario provincial Education Act, a parent or guardian of a child under the age of 18 is entitled to access their child’s student records (called the Ontario Student Record or OSR). The provincial Children’s Law Reform Act and the federal Divorce Act both allow non-custodial parents with access rights to request and receive the child’s education-related personal information.

Homeschooling

Parents may homeschool their children as long it is in accordance with the rules outlined in Section 21 (2) of the Education Act.  This section of the Act allows parents to provide homeschooling for their children if the instruction that they provide is deemed satisfactory and covers at least the subjects of the elementary school program set out in the regulations. It should also be noted that parents who wish to provide homeschooling for their children must also submit a written notice of intention to provide homeschooling to the local school board.  This letter must include: the name, gender, and date of birth of each child who is receiving homeschooling, as well as the telephone number and the address of the home.

Notification must be made to the school board in whose jurisdiction their child last attended school before September 1st for each year the child is to be homeschooled. Parents may start homeschooling a child during the school year, then register them in school to finish the year. If a child began the school year attending school, parents may take them out of school and start homeschooling them at any time.

School boards must excuse children from attendance at school when homeschooling is provided, however, the board may investigate if it has reasonable grounds to believe that the instruction provided in the home may not be satisfactory.

For more information about homeschooling in Ontario, including investigations of homeschooling by school boards, refer to the Ontario Ministry of Education.

Duty of teachers and principals to inform

Teachers and principals in Ontario have a duty to inform parents about the academic progress and educational needs of their children. Specifically, Section 265(1) of the Education Act requires that every teacher and principal in Ontario “shall report regularly to the parent of the pupil or pupil who is an adult on the progress of the pupil in school and on the work of the pupil.” This reporting can take various forms, such as report cards, parent-teacher interviews, progress reports, or other means.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty created by the United Nations and signed by almost every country in the world. It provides a full list of rights for all children up to the age of 18. As per the UNCRC, children’s views and opinions should be taken into consideration when making decisions about their education. Therefore, parents, teachers, and other professionals who work with children should listen to and respect the perspectives of the child and try to involve them in decision-making processes as appropriate.

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