About the consultation

We want to ensure students have the right support to be successful in the classroom. For some students, that can mean getting help from service animals.

In Ontario, school boards are responsible for developing and implementing the rules for bringing service animals into schools. Currently only 39 of 72 school boards across the province reported having those policies in place.

A consistent process for families

In April 2019, Ontario passed changes to the Education Act that supports students and their families when making requests to bring their service animals into schools and classrooms across the province.

Our goal through this consultation was to support these proposed changes and:

  • improve the process for families when making requests for service animals to accompany their children to school
  • understand what specific policies are needed to make this process more consistent and transparent

Policy/Program Memorandum

In the Spring, the Ministry of Education drafted and consulted on policy guidance — called a policy/program memorandum — that provides direction to school boards when developing their policies.

The final policy/program memorandum (PPM) was released on September 9, 2019, and can be found here:

PPM 163: School Board Policies on Service Animals

Privacy and personal information

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