Provincial Schools Authority: annual report 2024–2025

About the Provincial Schools Authority (PSA)

The Provincial Schools Authority (PSA) was established as an agency of the Ministry of Education in 1975 under the Provincial Schools Negotiations Act (now the Provincial Schools Authority Act). The PSA is the employer of record for teachers employed in provincially operated schools, which includes schools operated by the Ministry of Education (EDU) and the Ministry of the Solicitor General (SolGen). These teachers are represented by the Provincial Schools Authority Teachers (PSAT), which is a district of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF). The PSA is also the employer of record for principals and vice principals in provincially operated schools. The principals and vice principals are not represented by a union and do not have a collective agreement. The principals and vice principals do have Terms and Conditions of employment which are negotiated.

Operational leadership and oversight of the areas outlined in the Act, the Agencies and Appointments Directive (AAD), and the Minister’s Letter of Direction is coordinated through the Deputy Minister of Education and executed by the Executive Director of the Provincial and Demonstration Schools Branch (PDSB).

The PSA is intended to address issues related to the terms and conditions of employment of teachers, principals and vice principals employed in provincially operated schools.

Activities include:

• deciding on leave applications from teachers, principals, and vice principals in a reasonable and efficient manner and in compliance with the terms of employment for each group
• hearing PSAT Step 2 grievances as prescribed by the Collective Agreement in a timely manner
• providing input regarding the settlement of grievances in a fair and equitable manner and in compliance with the PSAT collective agreement
• ratifying agreements reached between the parties at the central and local negotiations tables. As the employer of record, the PSA is responsible for ratifying the PSAT collective agreement, which includes Part A – OSSTF Central Agreement and Part B – PSAT Local Agreement. The PSA ratifies the collective agreements in accordance with the School Boards Collective Bargaining Act 2014 (SBCBA). The SBCBA governs collective bargaining for teachers in the education sector. It identifies union and management representatives and their roles and responsibilities, including the role of the PSA and the Ministry of Education during bargaining with provincial school employees. 

The Provincial Schools

Provincial schools offer the Ontario curriculum at the elementary and secondary levels as well as specialised integrated programming for students who are Deaf, hard of hearing, blind, low vision and Deafblind. The schools also provide outreach services and teacher in-service for school boards. Provincial and demonstration schools are located at four sites, Belleville, Brantford, London and Milton.

In 2024-25, there were approximately 172.00 FTE teachers and 13 principals and vice-principals working in provincial schools and outreach programs. Teachers employed in the provincial schools are required to hold specialized additional teaching qualifications, for example language fluency in American Sign Language (ASL) or Braille and Deaf, Blind or Deafblind specialist qualifications to support the most vulnerable students in the province. These teachers are employed in schools and outreach programs directly operated by EDU, PDSB, or at the Ontario Correctional Institute operated by SolGen. Teachers, principals and vice-principals in these schools are classified as employees of the PSA. Their salaries are paid directly by EDU or the SolGen.

Members of the PSA

Historically, the PSA members have been Ontario Public Service (OPS) employees and do not receive remuneration for their PSA services. As of March 2023, per diem remuneration for non-OPS members of board-governed provincial agencies is: up to $350 per diem for chairs, up to $250 per diem for vice-chairs, and up to $200 per diem for members. In March 2024, a PSA Chair, who is external to the OPS, was appointed by Order-In-Council. For the period of April 2024 to March 2025, the PSA Chair earned a total of $11,900.

The PSA meetings were attended by all members, excluding Mr. Ross who was only appointed effective June 26, 2025.

PSA Activities

In December 2023, the Minister provided the PSA Chair with a letter of direction outlining the expectations for 2024-25. In addition to government-wide priorities (which are explored further below), the PSA and PDSB met the direction set out in the agency’s letter of direction in relation to the specific activities for the agency including:

• Working collaboratively and maintaining open lines of communication with the PSA Chair, PSAT union executives, Treasury Board Secretariat Employee Relation Advisor (TBS/ERA) to efficiently address issues raised by PSAT to help ensure a positive work environment, providing input into resolving PSAT grievances in a fair and equitable manner to ensure compliance with the PSAT Collective Agreement and, to promote transparency.
  • PSA members met two times in the year. Updates from the PDSB Executive Director provided insight into the work that is taking place within the branch, including key achievements, capital and maintenance work, promotion of PDSB within district school boards and the community of the programs and services offered. The TBS/ERA provided updates on grievance numbers and updates on the new Collective Agreement was provided by PDSB HR staff.
  • The PSA Chair and PDSB Executive Director met to discuss areas of importance related to the PSA mandate.
• Equipping board members to ensure the agency can carry out its mandate benefitting from the contributions and expertise of each member and helping it to maintain a full complement of members.
  • EDU worked to maintain a full PSA membership and work is actively taking place to fill the vacant positions.

Fulfillment of Government-Wide Priorities:

1. Competitiveness, Sustainability & Expenditure Management
   • The PSA budget of $20,000 was allocated by the PDSB of the Ministry of Education from its base operating funds.
   • In 2024-25, the PSA incurred actual expenditures of $67,300 related to the remuneration of an externally appointed PSA Chair and increases in arbitration costs.
   • The 2024-25 budget had assumed board members would not receive remuneration; however, the external appointment of the PSA Chair and unforeseen arbitration expenses resulted in higher costs.
   • Accordingly, the 2025-26 PSA budget was revised to account for these additional expenditures.
   • Ongoing expenses include costs associated with the administration of the collective agreements including arbitration hearings and collective bargaining negotiations, the cost for the financial statement of external assurance to comply with requirements under the Agencies and Appointments Directive (AAD), and remuneration for an external PSA member.
2. Transparency & Accountability
   • Options for increasing interest in PSA board membership were actively considered including broadening the applicant pool to include both internal and external members and continuing to match applicant skills to the requirements of the appointed position using the skills matrix.
   • Appointees who are external to the OPS receive remuneration for their work with the PSA. Members who are OPS employees do not receive remuneration for their work with the PSA since OPS employees cannot receive remuneration in respect of their government appointments, as per the AAD.
   • The PSA abides by applicable government directives and policies and ensured that the newly appointed members receive orientation materials at the beginning of their terms.
   • In 2024-25, the appointment of one internal member was extended to June 2025 and a new PSA Vice Chair was appointed in June 2025.
   • Submission timelines were met as identified in the AAD for the business plan, Memorandum of Understanding and annual report.
   • The PSA Statement of Disbursements for FY2023-24 was completed to comply with the reporting obligations of the PSA under the AAD.
3. Risk Management
   • The annual agency risk assessment report assessing risks and determining action plans/mitigation strategies for all existing, potential, and emerging risks was completed.
   • There is a commitment to identify and report on any high risks as per the Enterprise Risk Management process. There weren’t any high risks to report for 2024-25.
4. Workforce Management
   • The PSA requires a full or close to full complement of members to provide a diverse range of skills and experience which is beneficial to the group.
   • During 2024-25, the appointment term of one PSA member was extended and the vacant Vice Chair position was filled.
   • There is work underway to ensure that member vacancies are filled to meet a full member complement.
   • Administrative support is provided by PDSB staff, as the PSA doesn’t have any staff.
5. Diversity & Inclusion
   • The PSA is committed to working with the Executive Director, PDSB, to implement and monitor actions to support and promote an equitable, inclusive, accessible, anti-racist and diverse workplace.
6. Data Collection
   • PDSB continues to monitor and track the number of grievances filed and resolutions.
   • Data has been reviewed related to the types of grievances received and similar grievances have been bundled together which has identified similarities and areas of interest for PSA and PDSB to focus on.
7. Digital Delivery & Customer Service
   • A variety of digital methods are used to correspond with PSA members and PSAT including MS Teams and Zoom.

Performance Measures and Targets

The PSA aims to meet two to three times a year during a normal operating cycle to discuss issues of importance to the schools and issues raised by PSAT .

The PSA held two meetings during the 2024-25 school year. The PSA will propose a meeting schedule for the 2025-26 school year to ensure that meetings continue to take place to maintain positive relationships with the members and with the labour organization. The PSA Chair and Executive Director, PDSB also have regularly meetings.

PSA will operate within its annual budget allocation.

In 2024-25, the PSA incurred $67,300 in expenses which exceeded the annual budget of $20,000, originally approved in the 2024-25 Business Plan. The PSA budget is provided by the Ministry of Education through PDSB’s base operating budget. PSA monitors its spending on a monthly basis to remain within the allocated annual amount of $20,000. However, there was an increase in spending due to the remuneration of an externally hired PSA Chair and increases in arbitration costs. The PSA budget allocation has been reviewed and increased for outyears due to these additional expenditures.

The PSA will continue to strive to maintain positive relationships with the PDSB and labour organizations.

The PSA Chair worked with PDSB and TBS/ERA staff to maintain open lines of communication to pro-actively address items raised by PSAT in a fair, equitable and timely manner to help ensure a positive environment for both staff and students. A priority was placed to improve relations with the representatives of its employee group and continues to look for opportunities to proactively mitigate concerns.

PDSB will work to actively support the promotion of the provincial schools to increase awareness within district school boards and the community of the programs and services offered.

The PDSB Executive Director attended the PSA meetings and provided updates on current information, highlighted the programs and services offered by the provincial schools, and gave facilities updates on the work completed or underway.

PSA Expenses

The total expenses incurred under the PSA budget in 2024-25 was $67,300. These expenses include:

• costs associated with the administration of the collective agreement including arbitration hearings.
• travel expenses incurred by members hearing grievances.

Due to the changing operational requirements, PSA expenses included:

• payment for external assurance services of a third-party vendor.
• per diem payment for the PSA Chair who is external to the OPS.

Risks

There were vacant membership positions including the PSA Vice Chair and two member positions that expired during the 2024-25 period. This posed a risk that there may not be a full complement of members. A full member complement provides a diverse range of opinions and analysis which is beneficial to the group.

These risks were rated low as the PSA maintained a quorum of three members and the Ministry will continue to work with the Minister’s Office and the Public Appointments Secretariat to identify candidates to fill vacancies and address potential vacancies.