ontario regulation 156/26

made under the

School Boards Collective Bargaining Act, 2014

Made: May 25, 2026
Filed: May 26, 2026
Published on e-Laws: May 26, 2026
Published in The Ontario Gazette: June 13, 2026

CODE Bargaining Committee

CONTENTS

 

Definitions

1. In this Regulation,

“chief executive officer” includes a supervisory officer acting as and performing the duties of a director of education under subsection 281 (4) of the Education Act; (“chef de service administratif”)

“committee” means the committee established under subsection 52 (1) of the Act; (“comité”)

“school board represented by the CODE” means a school board for which the CODE is the employer bargaining agency. (“conseil scolaire représenté par le CODE”)

Composition

2. (1) The committee shall be composed of,

(a)  16 members elected by and from among the chief executive officers of the school boards represented by the CODE;

(b)  any other members appointed by the Minister; and

(c)  the executive director of the CODE, who is a non-voting member.

(2) The committee shall make best efforts to ensure that the elected members referred to in clause (1) (a) consist of five chief executive officers of separate district school boards and 11 chief executive officers of other school boards represented by the CODE, but a failure to maintain this composition of elected members has no impact on the validity of anything done by the committee.

(3) The executive director of the CODE shall act as the secretary of the committee and shall, in that capacity,

(a)  ensure that records documenting the business of the committee are prepared and maintained;

(b)  oversee the election of members to the committee; and

(c)  preside over the election of the chair and vice-chair of the committee.

(4) For the purposes of this section, an election year is a year immediately preceding a year during which collective agreements to which the CODE is a party are set to expire under section 41 of the Act, regardless of any continuation of their term of operation under section 41.1 of the Act.

(5) The term of an elected member ends on November 1 of the first election year following the member’s election to the committee, subject to subsection (6).

(6) The committee may, by resolution, extend the term of an elected member to November 1 of the second election year following the member’s election to the committee, provided that, at any given time, the terms of no more than eight elected members are extended by the committee.

(7) The committee shall ensure that an election is held in each election year.

(8) Despite subsection (5), the terms of the elected members referred to in paragraph 2 of subsection 9 (3) expire on November 1 of the first election year following the date referred to in subsection 9 (1).

(9) A person who is an elected member ceases to be a member of the committee if the person ceases to be the chief executive officer of the school board represented by the CODE of which the person was the chief executive officer at the time of the person’s election to the committee unless,

(a)  the person has been or is to be appointed the chief executive officer of another school board represented by the CODE;

(b)  the person remaining a member of the committee will not result in the committee no longer having the composition referred to in subsection (2) or further deviating from that composition; and

(c)  the committee agrees, by resolution, that the person may remain on the committee.

(10) A person who is permitted to remain on the committee under subsection (9) because the person is to be appointed the chief executive officer of another school board represented by the CODE nonetheless ceases to be a member of the committee if, after ceasing to be the chief executive officer of the school board of which the person was the chief executive officer at the time of the person’s election to the committee, more than 60 days elapse without the person having been appointed the chief executive officer of the other school board in question.

(11) A vacancy on the committee shall be filled in accordance with the committee’s by-laws, which may require an election or allow for the vacancy to be filled by a resolution of the committee.

(12) Despite subsection (11), if at any point there are fewer than eight members on the committee, not including the executive director of the CODE, an election shall be held to fill all vacancies on the committee.

Chair, vice-chair and committee meetings

3. (1) Following an election of members to the committee under subsection 2 (7), the members of the committee shall elect a chair and a vice-chair from among themselves.

(2) The chair shall convene meetings of the committee.

(3) If the chair is unable to act or if the position is vacant, the vice-chair shall convene meetings of the committee.

(4) If both the chair and vice-chair are either unable to act or their positions are vacant, any member of the committee may convene a meeting of the committee.

(5) Upon the written request of a majority of the members of the committee, the executive director of the CODE, acting as the secretary of the committee, shall convene a meeting of the committee.

(6) A written request under subsection (5) may consist of several documents of similar form each signed by one or more members.

(7) Meetings of the committee shall be held in accordance with the committee’s by-laws, which may provide that meetings are to be held in-person or by any means allowing members present at the meeting to communicate with each other in real time.

(8) A meeting of the board shall be presided over by the chair or, in the chair’s absence, a member of the committee designated in advance of the meeting by the chair.

(9) In the chair’s absence and in the absence of a designation under subsection (8), a member appointed by the members of the committee in attendance at the meeting shall preside over the meeting.

(10) If the chair is presiding over a meeting of the committee but is unable to preside over the entirety of the meeting, any portion of the meeting over which the chair is unable to preside shall be presided over by the vice-chair or, in the absence of the vice-chair, by a member of the committee in attendance at the meeting chosen by the chair.

(11) If a member other than the chair is presiding over a meeting of the committee and the member is unable to continue presiding over the meeting, the person shall choose a member of the committee in attendance at the meeting who shall preside over the remainder of the meeting.

(12) The fact that a meeting of the committee or a portion of it was presided over by someone other than a person authorized to do so under this section does not impact on the validity of anything done during that meeting or portion of it.

Powers and duties of the committee

4. (1) The committee may instruct employees and officers of the CODE in respect of any of the CODE’s activities referred to in subsection 52 (1) of the Act.

(2) The instructions of the committee prevail in the event of any conflict between those instructions and any other instructions that the employee or officer would otherwise be required to follow in the course of their duties, including instructions from the CODE’s board of directors.

(3) The committee shall establish a plan to ensure that the CODE is prepared for the possibility of collective bargaining occurring, at the same time, at more than one central table.

Ratification

Definition

5. (1) In this section,

“affected school board” means a school board that has employees to whom the memorandum of settlement of central terms in question applies.

(2) When considering whether the CODE should ratify a memorandum of settlement of central terms as an employer bargaining agency or when the CODE is presented with a memorandum of settlement of central terms as a member of a council of employers’ associations that is designated as an employer bargaining agency, the committee shall,

(a)  consider the memorandum of settlement and, by resolution, approve or reject it; and

(b)  only if the memorandum of settlement is approved by the committee, conduct a vote on the memorandum of settlement.

(3) Any vote referred to in clause (2) (b) shall be conducted in accordance with the following rules:

1.  Every chief executive officer of an affected school board is eligible to vote in favour of or against the memorandum of settlement, unless the chief executive officer’s school board has forfeited its entitlement to participate in the vote under subsection 4 (2) of Ontario Regulation 664/21 (Fees for Central Bargaining) made under the Act.

2.  A person who is temporarily acting as the chief executive officer of an affected school board is entitled to vote in place of the chief executive officer.

3.  Despite paragraphs 1 and 2, if a person is appointed under subsection 230.15 (2) of the Education Act to exercise powers and perform duties in relation to an affected school board and that person is not an officer or employee of that school board, that person is, instead of the school board’s chief executive officer, eligible to vote in favour of or against the memorandum of settlement and may do so even if the affected school board has forfeited its entitlement to participate in the vote under subsection 4 (2) of Ontario Regulation 664/21 made under the Act.

4.  Votes must be cast within the deadline specified by the committee.

5.  An abstention or a failure to vote within the deadline specified by the committee shall be counted as a vote in favour of the memorandum of settlement.

6.  The votes shall be weighted to reasonably reflect, for each affected school board, the size of the relevant bargaining units.

(4) If the CODE is the employer bargaining agency and the majority of votes, weighted in accordance with paragraph 6 of subsection (3), are cast in favour of the memorandum of settlement of central terms, the memorandum shall be considered to have been ratified by the CODE.

(5) If the CODE is a member of a council of employers’ associations that is designated as an employer bargaining agency, the CODE shall provide a report of the votes cast to the council to permit the council to take any necessary steps in accordance with its policies, procedures and processes referred to in section 21 of the Act.

Exercise of powers

6. (1) The committee shall exercise its powers by resolution adopted at a meeting of the committee or by written resolution executed by a majority of the members of the committee.

(2) Subject to its by-laws, the committee may, by resolution, authorize any person to exercise any of its powers, with the exception of the power to approve or reject a memorandum of settlement under clause 5 (2) (a), and may set out in the authorization any conditions or limitations to which the authorization is subject.

(3) A written resolution referred to in subsection (1) may be executed electronically and may be executed in counterparts.

(4) A quorum is constituted at a meeting of the committee if at least eight members of the committee are present at the meeting and the members present at the meeting include the chair or, if the chair is unable to act or the position is vacant, the vice-chair.

(5) Despite subsection (4), the presence of the chair or vice-chair is not necessary for quorum during a meeting convened under subsection 3 (4) or (5) and quorum is maintained despite the absence of the chair and vice-chair during a portion of a meeting of the committee, as contemplated by subsection 3 (10), provided that at least eight members of the committee remain present.

(6) A resolution is adopted at a meeting of the committee if a majority of the members participating in the meeting vote to adopt the resolution and, in the event of a tie vote, the person presiding over the meeting shall cast a second, deciding vote.

(7) The CODE shall keep a copy of every written resolution executed by a majority of the members of the committee.

Chief executive officers

7. A chief executive officer of a school board represented by the CODE is eligible to be a member of the committee and entitled to vote on a memorandum of settlement of central terms regardless of whether the chief executive officer is a member of the CODE or has paid any fees or complied with any obligation imposed by the CODE.

Financial matters

8. (1) The CODE shall ensure that employers’ association funds are kept in a separate account from any of the CODE’s other funds and that a distinction is made between employers’ association funds and those other funds in any context involving CODE’s internal administration and in any financial statements or reports prepared by it.

(2) Employers’ association funds must only be used in relation to the functions assigned to the CODE by the Act.

(3) In this section,

“employers’ association funds” means amounts paid to the CODE as fees pursuant to a regulation made under subsection 21 (10) of the Act.

Transition, interim committee

9. (1) This section applies to the committee until the date that is fixed, by resolution, by the committee and approved by the Minister.

(2) Until the date referred to in subsection (1), the committee shall be known as the interim committee.

(3) Despite subsection 2 (1), the interim committee shall be composed of the following persons:

1.  Any person, other than an officer or employee of a board, who, on the day on which this Regulation comes into force, is appointed under subsection 230.15 (2) of the Education Act to exercise powers and perform duties in relation to the following English-language district school boards:

i.  Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board.

ii.  Near North District School Board.

iii.  Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.

iv.  Peel District School Board.

v.  Thames Valley District School Board.

vi.  Toronto Catholic District School Board.

vii.  Toronto District School Board.

viii.  York Catholic District School Board.

2.  A number of members elected by and from among the chief executive officers of each of the English-language district school boards that would bring the total number of members referred to in paragraph 1 and this paragraph to 16 and of which at least two must be chief executive officers of English-language separate district school boards and 6 must be chief executive officers of other school boards represented by the CODE.

3.  Any other members appointed by the Minister.

(4) A person who is a member of the interim committee by application of paragraph 1 of subsection (3) ceases to be a member of the interim committee if the person ceases to be appointed under subsection 230.15 (2) of the Education Act to exercise powers and duties in relation to the board in question, unless the person is appointed under that subsection to exercise powers and duties in relation to another English-language district school board.

(5) If a person ceases to be a member of the interim committee under subsection (4) and another person is appointed under subsection 230.15 (2) of the Education Act to exercise powers and perform duties in relation to the board in question, that other person shall fill the vacancy on the committee.

(6) If a person ceases to be a member of the interim committee under subsection (4) and subsection (5) does not apply in the circumstances, the vacancy shall be filled as follows:

1.  Unless they are already a member of the interim committee, the chief executive officer of the board in question shall fill the vacancy.

2.  In the absence of a person employed in the position of the board’s chief executive officer or if the person is already a member of the interim committee, the Minister may appoint any person to the interim committee to fill the vacancy.

3.  If the Minister decides not to appoint a person to the interim committee, the vacancy may be filled in the manner determined, by resolution, by the interim committee, but the committee shall endeavour to fill the vacancy in a manner that results in the interim committee having or being closer to having the composition of elected members referred to in subsection 2 (2).

(7) Despite subsection 3 (1), the chair and the vice-chair of the interim committee shall be designated by the Minister.

Commencement

10. This Regulation comes into force on the day it is filed.

Made by:
Pris par :

Le ministre de l’Éducation,

Paul Calandra

Minister of Education

Date made: May 25, 2026
Pris le : 25 mai 2026