Nearly two-thirds of Ontario’s school boards are staring down deficits or barely breaking even, with financial pressures mounting as the new academic year unfolds.
The financial reports filed by 72 school boards this past summer reveal a landscape marked by uncertainty and tough choices. Twenty-five boards are planning for deficits in the 2025-26 school year, while another nineteen only managed to balance their books with little room for error. Surpluses, where they exist, are slim to the point of vanishing—a stark shift from the more comfortable margins of recent years.
At the heart of the issue lies Ontario’s per pupil funding model. When enrolment drops, so does revenue, leaving boards like Dufferin-Peel Catholic scrambling to plug gaps. It’s not a problem unique to a handful: according to University of Ottawa assistant professor Sachin Maharaj, “when you see such widespread difficulties among school boards being able to balance their budgets, that shows you this isn’t an issue of financial mismanagement.” Instead, it’s a systemic problem, with boards squeezed by rising costs for special education, increased pay and benefits, and stubbornly high teacher turnover. The pandemic only tightened the vise.
Some boards voluntarily dip into the red, drawing from reserves to fund targeted projects—a new trades program, improved wellness systems, or upgraded play spaces. Ottawa’s English Catholic board, for instance, set aside funds for such investments, describing their deficit as a strategic use of savings rather than a sign of structural distress. But for boards with no reserves left, like Simcoe Muskoka Catholic, the choices look grim: cut jobs, trim programs, or risk provincial oversight. Meanwhile, rural boards face their own dilemmas, keeping tiny schools open despite high costs and long waitlists for support services.
Education Minister Paul Calandra has pointed to local decision-making, even raising the prospect of eliminating school board oversight, but admits the government may revisit the funding formula. While some boards see growth as a lifeline—Ottawa Catholic’s surging enrolment helps offset inflation—others watch their student numbers dwindle and deficits balloon.
For Ontario’s school boards, the arithmetic is unyielding and the stakes are high. As communities debate the future of local education, the question is not just how to balance the books, but what kind of schools will remain when the dust settles.
References:
Two-thirds of Ontario school boards in deficit or just breaking even
