big issues:special programs and program access
Toronto has four publicly funded school boards, split by language (English or French) and faith (public or Catholic). The English-language boards are the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB). The French-language boards are Conseil scolaire Viamonde and Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir.
Before you read: a note on provincial supervision. The TDSB and TCDSB have been under provincial supervision since June 27, 2025. Viamonde and MonAvenir are not. While supervision is in place, provincially appointed supervisors exercise powers that would normally belong to elected trustees. Unless otherwise noted, this primer describes a trustee's ordinary powers, outside supervision. To read more: Ontario government.
Where a child goes to school shapes which programs they can join. School boards make decisions about which programs they offer, where those programs are located and how students access them. These decisions can affect access to programs such as French immersion, specialized learning opportunities, and special education services.
The Province sets much of the framework for special programs and special education. School boards operate within those rules. Trustees help shape board priorities, policies, and spending decisions, but they do not manage individual admissions or placements. Here are three ways to understand the role trustees play in program access: the priorities and policies they set, how each board runs its own programs and admissions, and what has changed recently. These are not the only factors, and the largest levers belong to the Province.
Listen to this primer
Trustees Help Set Board Priorities and Policies
Trustees govern by setting board policy within a provincial framework. Acting together, they have the most influence over which programs and services get funded and how board policies are set. They also lay out the board's priorities in its multi-year strategic plan, for example TDSB's 2024-28 plan. They can direct senior staff to develop or review a policy and oversee whether board directions are carried out.
Trustees do not make decisions about individual student admission or placements. Those decisions are handled through board procedures and school administration processes. Special education placements follow a separate provincial process. An Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC) decides whether a student is an "exceptional pupil" under the Education Act and where they should be placed. By law, a trustee cannot sit on an IPRC or take part in its decisions. Once a student is identified, the school develops their Individual Education Plan (IEP). This is a written plan setting out the accommodations, supports, and learning goals the student may need to succeed. It is developed with parents or guardians and reviewed regularly.
What trustees do approve is the board's special education plan—the document setting out what programs and services the board will provide. Every board must also have a Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC). It includes a few trustees alongside representatives from local special-education associations. The SEAC advises the board on special education programs and services.
Trustees also influence decisions about where programs are offered across the school system. Not every school offers every program. Access may depend on factors such as location, transportation, attendance boundaries, and available space. Trustees influence this through the budget they approve, program and equity reviews, and boundary decisions.
A parent or guardian (or a student 16 or older) can ask in writing for an IPRC meeting, and the principal must then refer the student to the committee. Principals can also start the process themselves, with written notice to the parent.
Go to information sourceAll four Toronto boards offer the Ministry of Education's Specialist High Skills Major, a program that lets students focus their diploma on a career sector.
Go to information source
Each Board Runs Its Own Programs and Admissions
Each board offers its own mix of specialized programs. Program availability and admissions requirements may differ from one board to another. Specialized programs are built around a specific focus such as the arts, science and technology, or leadership, and are offered at select schools. One program is common to all: all four Toronto boards offer the Ministry of Education's Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) through participating high schools.
Special education is governed differently from specialized program admissions. Placement runs through the provincial IPRC process, which trustees cannot be part of. Trustees approve the special education plan that outlines the programs and services available across the board. In 2026-27, Ontario is estimated to provide about $3.83 billion in special education funding to boards. It supports staffing, services, and equipment, and each board decides how to spend its share within provincial rules (Go to information source).
Here are examples of how each Toronto board approaches specialized programs.
Toronto District School Board (TDSB). The TDSB runs specialized programs at select schools with a merit-based admissions process: an evaluated portfolio or audition at the elementary level, and a scored application at the secondary level (Go to information source).
Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB). The TCDSB runs several specialized program streams, including arts schools that admit students through an audition or supplementary application (Go to information source).
Conseil scolaire Viamonde. Viamonde runs "Programmes d'excellence" beginning in the intermediate grades and "Majeure Haute Spécialisation" in the senior grades (Go to information source).
Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir. MonAvenir offers the "Majeure Haute Spécialisation" at a number of its secondary schools, several of them in Toronto (Go to information source).
Recent Developments
Boards review programs as needs change. Boards periodically review programs when demand, staffing, transportation, geography, or equity concerns shift.
TDSB's specialized program admissions changed recently. In 2022, TDSB trustees approved a change from ability-based to interest-based admissions. That used expressions of interest, with a random lottery when applicants outnumbered spots, starting in September 2023. The provincially appointed supervisor ended the lottery and restored merit-based admissions (Go to information source) for September 2026 entry.
French Immersion pathways are shifting in the east end. The TDSB is changing French Immersion pathways in the Toronto-Danforth-East York area, with Danforth Collegiate and Technical Institute becoming a Grade 9 French Immersion destination for several feeder schools (Go to information source).