Homeschooling in Ontario: The Rules, the Curriculum, and Where a Certified Teacher Fits

Is homeschooling legal in Ontario?

Yes. Section 21 of the Education Act requires every child who turns six by the first school day in September to "attend an elementary or secondary school on every school day from the first school day in September in that year until the person attains the age of 18 years". The same section lists the reasons a child is excused. The first one, clause 21(2)(a), reads: "the person is receiving satisfactory instruction at home or elsewhere".

Homeschooling in Ontario rests on that clause. The Act sets up no homeschooling licence. The ministry's home-schooling memorandum is PPM 131, and its K-12 policy adds the rules for a child who moves from home schooling into a school. The duty to send a child to school sits with the parent. Subsection 21(5) reads: "The parent or guardian of a person who is required to attend school under this section shall cause the person to attend school as required by this section unless the person is at least 16 years old and has withdrawn from parental control." A child excused under clause 21(2)(a) is not required to attend, so a parent who homeschools meets that duty.

PPM 131 was issued on 17 June 2002, and its page was last updated on 18 December 2024. It is written for school boards, not for parents. It gives boards direction "concerning policies related to home schooling and the excusing of children from school who are receiving home schooling."

One detail in the policy itself is out of date. PPM 131's Appendix A still says "Subsection 21(1) requires every child to attend school from the age of six until the age of sixteen". The Act was changed to 18 in 2006. The Act is the law, so the age is 6 to 18.

Do you have to tell the school board?

PPM 131 and OFTP read this question differently.

What the ministry policy says. PPM 131: "Parents who decide to provide home schooling for their child(ren) should notify the school board of their intent in writing." The letter gives "the name, gender, and date of birth of each child who is receiving home schooling, and the telephone number and address of the home." The parent signs it, and PPM 131 includes a sample letter in its Appendix B. There is no other ministry form.

What the Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents says. OFTP reads the law more narrowly: "Nowhere in the Education Act is there any legal requirement to inform the school board of your intentions to home educate, whether or not your child has ever been enrolled in the Ontario school system." Its FAQ adds: "A PPM is not law and one cannot be prosecuted for not following the policy."

Both statements are accurate as written. The Act names no notice duty. The policy tells boards what to expect from parents and how to respond.

What the letter changes in practice. Three things turn on the letter:

• Once a board receives the notice, PPM 131 says it "should consider the child to be excused from attendance at school" and "should send a letter each year to the parents, acknowledging the notification". It adds: "Normally, the board should not investigate the matter."
• PPM 131 lists "refusal of a parent to notify the board in writing of the intent to provide home schooling" as one of four example reasons a board may investigate.
• The board's reply letter is the document that TVO's Independent Learning Centre asks for before a homeschooled child can enrol, and the ILC only takes students who are at least 14 or turn 14 by December 31 of that school year. PPM 131 also lists the free EQAO tests among what notified parents may use.

So the letter is not a legal requirement under the Act, but skipping it closes the ILC route and gives the board one of the four example reasons PPM 131 lists for investigating. Whether to send it is the family's call.

How to start homeschooling in Ontario, step by step

The steps differ slightly depending on whether your child is enrolled in a school now.

Step 1: Check whether your child is enrolled

If you have never registered your child for school, OFTP says you can homeschool "without doing anything". The ILC, though, asks homeschooling parents for the board's reply letter "from their local school board in which they reside", so a family that may want ILC credits later will need to notify that board before applying. If your child attends a school now, the board has them on its register, so the next step matters.

Step 2: Send the board a written notice

Write to the board where your child last attended school, or, for a child who has never been enrolled, your local board. Give each child's name, gender and date of birth, plus your home address and phone number, and sign it. PPM 131's Appendix B has a sample you can adapt. OFTP says families "may withdraw their children to home educate at any time of the year". PPM 131 does not mention starting partway through a school year.

Step 3: Keep the board's reply

The board's acknowledgement is the letter you will need for ILC courses later. File it with your records.

Step 4: Renew each year before September 1

PPM 131: "If parents decide to continue to provide home schooling in subsequent years, they should give notification each year in writing prior to September 1 to the school board in whose jurisdiction their child last attended school." The renewal carries the same details as the first letter. If you want your child to write the Grade 3, 6 or 9 EQAO assessments or the OSSLT that year, contact the board by September 30 as well.

Does Ontario require a curriculum, report cards or tests?

No. PPM 131 tells boards that "the parent may not be following the Ontario curriculum, using standard classroom practices in the home, or teaching within the standard school day or school year." It sets no duty to keep report cards, a portfolio or an attendance log. OFTP's summary: "Grades and testing are not required."

Provincial tests are available if you want them. Parents "may wish their child(ren) to participate in assessments for students in Grades 3, 6, and 9, and/or the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (normally given to students in Grade 10)". They "must contact the school board by September 30 (or another date specified by the school board)". There is no fee: children "will not be charged a fee either by the board or by the EQAO". The parent arranges transport, the results go to the home, and they are not included in any school or board report. Our guide to EQAO practice tests and our OSSLT explainer cover what each test asks.

When can a school board investigate?

Only when there are "reasonable grounds to suspect that the child is not receiving satisfactory instruction at home". PPM 131 gives four examples:

• "refusal of a parent to notify the board in writing of the intent to provide home schooling"
• "a credible report of concern by a third party with respect to the instruction being provided in the home"
• "evidence that the child was removed from attendance at school because of ongoing conflicts with the school, not for the purpose of home schooling"
• "a history of absenteeism by the child prior to the parent's notifying the board of the intent to provide home schooling"

If the board does look into it, the policy says the decision "should therefore focus on" three things: "a plan for educating the child", "plans to ensure literacy and numeracy at developmentally appropriate levels" and "plans for assessing the child's achievement". It also gives a longer list of questions and requests that "may be used as a guide for the discussion", including "samples of your child's work in each subject area". Officials "should recognize that the methodology, materials, schedules, and assessment techniques used by parents who provide home schooling may differ from those used by educators in the school system."

A parent may have a member of a support group present. PPM 131 names four: "the Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents, the Ontario Christian Home Educators' Connection, the Home School Legal Defence Association of Canada, and the Catholic Home Schoolers' Association – Ontario." Where a board cannot decide, it may ask the Provincial School Attendance Counsellor to inquire under subsection 24(2) of the Act.

In practice, that means keeping a written plan with reading, writing and math in it, plus a record of how progress is checked. Both are worth having even though PPM 131 says that, normally, a board should not investigate.

What curriculum can you use?

Any you choose. OFTP answers the question "Must I follow the Ontario curriculum?" with "No. You can design your own educational program, however best suits your child, your family, and your goals for learning."

Two official sources cost nothing:

• The Ontario curriculum itself. PPM 131: parents "may download curriculum policy documents and curriculum support material produced by the Ministry of Education free of charge from the ministry's website." These set out what each grade is expected to learn, subject by subject.
• TVO Learn. TVO describes it as a way "to help your child explore learning that aligns with the Ontario curriculum, from Kindergarten to Grade 12", with "No hidden fees or online advertising."

There is a reason to stay close to the Ontario curriculum even though it is optional. If your child might go back to school, or wants an OSSD later, a principal will place them partly on the documents you can show. A board that investigates may also ask: "Is your instructional program based on the Ontario curriculum or on a different curriculum?" For math in particular, our guide to Grade 9 math in Ontario shows what the first high school course now covers.

Is there funding, and what does homeschooling cost?

According to OFTP, Ontario does not fund homeschooling: "Unlike other provinces and countries, Ontario has no funding for homeschoolers." On tax, OFTP notes that homeschooling families remain eligible for the Canada Child Benefit, the Disability Tax Credit and the Ontario Child Benefit, "but they are not homeschooling specific." PPM 131's list of what homeschooling parents may use (the tests, the ILC, curriculum documents and school health support services) contains no grant.

Alberta is different. Alberta Education funds home education "supervised by a willing public, separate or francophone school board or accredited funded independent school", and parents who homeschool without that supervision "are not eligible to receive any Alberta Education funding."

The cost of homeschooling in Ontario therefore comes down to what each family buys. One fixed price is the ILC course fee for a teen working toward the OSSD, covered below.

How many children are homeschooled in Ontario?

Statistics Canada counts 13,134 homeschooled children in Ontario in 2023/2024, the latest year in its enrolment table. That is down from a peak of 23,673 in 2020/2021, and up from 9,891 in 2019/2020. Across Canada the count was 63,150, and Alberta alone had 24,279.

Ontario's enrolment across every school type that year was 2,261,421, so homeschooled children were well under one in a hundred. Statistics Canada rounds these counts at random to a multiple of 3, and they reflect enrolment at the start of the school year as each province reports it.

Can a homeschooled teen earn an Ontario high school diploma?

Yes, but not from the family. OFTP: "Homeschooling families can issue their graduating high school students diplomas, but they will not be accredited or recognized as OSSDs by the Ministry of Education." The ministry's private-schools page adds that not every school can grant it either: "Not all private schools can grant students the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD), or credits toward the OSSD."

A student who started Grade 9 in 2024 or later needs 17 compulsory credits and 13 optional credits, the literacy requirement and at least 2 online learning credits. The ministry's diploma page lists the financial literacy requirement for that group as well, but the paragraph that explains it names "a student who began Grade 9 in the 2025-2026 school year or later" and says "This requirement takes effect in the 2026-2027 school year." The page gives both dates, so the parent of a teen who started Grade 9 in fall 2024 should ask the school which one applies. "Everyone needs 40 hours of community involvement activities (volunteering) to get their high school diploma." For a student who joins a high school from home schooling, the guide table below keeps the full 40 hours after one year of secondary study and leaves the number to the principal after two or more years. For most students the literacy requirement means passing the OSSLT. A student who started Grade 9 in 2023 or earlier needs 18 compulsory and 12 optional credits.

There are three main routes to those credits.

The Independent Learning Centre (ILC)

TVO's ILC is the route PPM 131 names. The ministry's K-12 policy: "Adult learners and students not enrolled in a public school may enroll directly with the ILC." Course work is "marked by Ontario Certified Teachers", and "Final tests are completed online and supervised by a live proctor."

To enrol a child of compulsory school age, the ILC asks for the board's reply to your notice. Its How to Apply page: "If you are a homeschooler, you must apply first. Courses are chosen after your application is approved." The ILC's eligibility rule: "You must be at least 14 years of age or will be turning 14 by December 31 of this school year". In place of a school transcript, a homeschooled applicant sends evidence of learning. The fee: "Most Ontario residents registering as independent students at TVO ILC will pay a partially subsidized fee of $40 per course." Fees are non-refundable.

The OSSLT is a separate step. ILC: "Homeschooled students (under 18 years of age) must arrange to take the test at their local/home school." That means contacting the board by September 30 in the year your teen wants to write it.

An inspected private school

Only private high schools the ministry inspects can grant credits toward the OSSD. The ministry says it inspects all private high schools that grant, or seek to grant, course credits toward the OSSD. Ask any school, online or in person, whether it is inspected to grant OSSD credits before paying for a course.

Moving into a high school

A homeschooled teen can enrol in a public secondary school. The principal then decides how much of the earlier learning counts. The K-12 policy: "the principal of the receiving school will determine the total credit equivalency of the student's previous learning along with the number of compulsory and optional credits still to be earned." Section 4.3.2 says the student will have to meet the literacy and financial literacy requirements. The guide table in section 4.3.3, though, marks financial literacy "Not Required" for a student who has completed two or more years of secondary school.

The policy's guide table sets minimums the student still has to earn at the school:

A teen who enters a high school after two years of secondary-level study at home still needs at least 14 credits there, and at least 7 after three years.

How do homeschooled students get into university?

Through the Ontario Universities' Application Centre (OUAC), like everyone else. OUAC's guide defines Group A as applicants who are "currently taking 1 or more Ontario high school courses", are under 21 on or before December 31, 2026, and have or are working toward an OSSD with six 4U/M courses. Anyone else is Group B, and the first example OUAC gives is "Not currently taking a course at an Ontario high school". So a homeschooled teen who takes no Ontario course applies in Group B. The guide does not say how an ILC course is counted, and the application "will automatically put you in the right group". Our OUAC guide explains both groups and the deadlines.

Each university then decides what it accepts, and the three checked for this guide do not agree:

The ILC states that its credits "meet the stated admission requirements for all Ontario Colleges and Universities." That is the ILC's own claim. Check the admission page of each university on your teen's list in Grade 10, because the gap between Guelph and Queen's shows how far the rules can differ.

Going back to school

An elementary-age child who returns from homeschooling "will be placed in an age-appropriate grade by the principal of the receiving school." The decision is informed by documents such as attendance records, report cards and other assessment materials, and by consultations with the student, the family and school staff. For a teen, the credit equivalency rules above apply.

The documents you keep, such as samples of work, the curriculum you followed and any test results, are part of what the principal reads, alongside a conversation with you and your child. That is one more reason to keep a simple record of each year.

Where a certified teacher fits

Ontario asks for no teaching qualification from whoever homeschools a child. Neither section 21 of the Act nor PPM 131 names one. What the policy cares about is the plan, literacy and numeracy, and how progress is checked.

If a family does hire an outside teacher, it helps to know what "certified" means in Ontario.

An Ontario Certified Teacher (OCT) is, in the Ontario College of Teachers' words, "A professional designation that is entrenched in law." Only members in good standing can use it. You can check a name yourself on the College's public register, Find a Teacher, which shows each member's qualifications, membership status, date of first certification and any disciplinary history. It does not show contact details. Our guide on how to check if a teacher is certified walks through the search, and Certified Teacher vs. Math Tutor sets out what the difference means in practice.

One question to agree at the start: whether the teacher follows the Ontario curriculum. The College's guidance to members giving private instruction is that "This should be discussed between you and the parents or guardians of your student", while it "strongly recommends that Ontario Certified Teachers follow provincial curriculum and safety guidelines." For a teen heading toward an OSSD or a university program, a certified teacher can also help chart which courses the student needs to reach that goal, then focus the teaching on those subjects.

Genie's How it works page says "every teacher is provincially certified, and that is checked before their profile goes live." Its Subjects page adds "Teachers are certified across Canadian provinces, and each profile names the province on the certificate", so a Genie teacher may hold another province's certification rather than the OCT designation. Genie's home, How it works and Subjects pages do not mention homeschooling.

What to plan for first

The decisions that matter most come late. If your child may want an OSSD or a university place, plan the credit route early, keep the board's reply letter, and check each university's homeschool page before Grade 11.