Homeschooling in Ontario: How it Works & How to Get Started
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- Presented for the Canadian Online Homeschool Conference 2020 #CANHSCON20 by Marian Buchanan, a long-time executive member of the Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents (OFTP), this is a quick overview in two parts: “How it works” covers the legalities of homeschooling in Ontario: what the Education Act says, what the Ministry’s homeschooling policy says, how it normally works, and how it works if there is an attempted investigation. “How to get started” walks you through a step-by-step guide of the educational decisions to be made and the practical steps to be taken when getting started homeschooling in Ontario.
As the OFTP motto says, “You CAN educate your child at home!”
Thank you!!! Very helpful information
Thank you Marian for all the information.
This video was very helpful! Thank you Marian
Thank you.
Thank you so much,
Is it true that recipients of Ontario Disability benefit(s) need to notify and get permission from ODSP to homeschool their children?
No. It's not really a question of permission, it's about documentation:
The Education Act allows you to homeschool, so that's your decision to make. If your case worker isn't well informed about it being legal, you might need to refer them to the Education Act and Policy Program Memorandum No.131, but it's not up to ODSP to "approve" your homeschooling nor order you to send your child to school. (Years ago, the ODSP policy directive on dependent children required "school board approval" for homeschooling, but that has since been removed from the directive. If your case worker is still operating under outdated policies, you can refer them to the most recent wording of Policy Directive 2.2. -- link provided below.)
Your *personal* benefits won't be affected by whether or not you homeschool.
As for whether or not your *child* gets included in the benefit unit (for the purposes of calculating the total amount of the benefit), that requires certain documentation, which has nothing to do with homeschooling except to this extent:
What they look for is proof that your child resides with you, and the default way they do that is to request the school record. So you might need a different way of proving that, which could be a note from a guarantor such as your family doctor, or it could be sending the school board a Letter of Intent to Homeschool and explicitly asking that they respond with a Letter of Acknowledgment (again, not permission, just acknowledgment -- you're the one notifying them of your parental decision), and then you could give ODSP a copy of that school board acknowledgment.
You must also prove that you receive the Canada Child Benefit for that child.
At worst (like, if you can't provide a guarantor's note and don't want to deal with the school board), you can simply forfeit the amount you would've received for the child, and just receive your own benefits without the child supplementation. You'd have to look up what the current amount is for including each child, but it's fairly small. The bulk of the benefit is what you get regardless of whether children are included.
From ODSP Policy Directive 2.2:
"Children under 18 who live with their parents, and meet the definition of dependent child, are included as part of the ODSP benefit unit."
"A child is considered a dependent child if:
- he/she is under the age of 18
- he/she resides with a parent who is an applicant/recipient or the applicant/recipient’s spouse
- the parent in the benefit unit:
- receives the Canada Child Benefit on behalf of the child or is eligible to receive it
- is responsible for the primary care and control or shares custody of the child as determined by the Director"
www.ontario.ca/document/ontario-disability-support-program-policy-directives-income-support/22-who-eligible
From The Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents FAQ:
"I’m disabled. Can I homeschool?
Yes. Directive 2.2, Who Is Eligible: Dependent Children states that, “Children under 18 who live with their parents, and meet the definition of dependent child, are included as part of the ODSP benefit unit.” Dependent children are defined as “under the age of 18, residing with a parent who is an applicant/recipient or their spouse, AND the parent in the benefit unit receives the Canada Child Benefit on behalf of the child (or is eligible to receive it), or is responsible for the primary care & control/shares custody of the child, as determined by the Director.
Occasionally, an ODSP worker will request proof of homeschooling with a letter of acknowledgement of your notice of intent to homeschool from the school board. You can refer them to Directive 2.2, and point out that issues of school attendance are no longer involved in determining the eligibility of dependent children to be included in the benefit unit. If they insist and remove your child from the calculations, you can ask for an internal review, followed, if necessary, by an appeal."
ontariohomeschool.org/homeschool-faq/
HTH
May an Immigrant homeschool her kids in Ontario?
Yes, anyone living in Ontario can homeschool.