Ontario education funding - what's changed, what's the same?
Source: Ontario Ministry of Education Core Education Funding 2024–25
Ontario has announced changes to the education funding formula. In the past, the “Grants for Student Needs” divided education funding into 18 grants, including the Pupil Foundation Grant (which covered the cost of things like staff and classroom supplies), the School Foundation Grant (which included things like principals and vice-principals and library staff), and a range of Supplemental Grants, including things like special education, bussing, and school facilities.
The new funding formula – which, for the most part, does not change basic per pupil amounts – is divided into 2 categories:
- Core Education funding, which has six funding “pillars”:
- Classroom Staffing Fund
- Learning Resources Fund
- Special Education Fund
- School Facilities Fund
- Student Transportation Fund
- School Board Administration Fund
- Responsive Education Programs and Funding for External Partners, which includes the funding that was formerly in Priorities and Partnership Funding
More “enveloped” funding
Formerly, most funding could be moved from one category to the other. There were exceptions, for example, for special education, where funding was “enveloped” meaning it could only be spent in that area. The new funding formula adds more restrictions, so that most of the classroom and learning resource funding, as well as funding for Special Education, Indigenous Education, Mental Health and Wellness, and Student Safety and Well-Being is now enveloped.
New reporting requirements for school boards
The new funding regulations also include a requirement for school boards to complete and post a School Board Financial Transparency Tool to include details such as how much funding a board received in each category, how the funding is being spent, and information about class sizes. This information from school boards will be included in a provincial dashboard so that users “will be able to compare this information between school boards, to a regional average as well as to the provincial average.”
Overall funding increase below the rate of inflation
The funding increases average out at 1.9%, which is lower than the rate of inflation, currently pegged at 2.9%. For some boards, such as the Avon Maitland DSB, the average core education per pupil funding increase is just .4%. For the Toronto District School Board, the increase is 1.5%.
The Board by Board Core Education Funding Projections for 2024-25 also includes a “planning provision” – a form of reserve that may be used to cover things like any additional increases that come as a result of arbitration processes with teachers’ federations that are currently underway.
For more information about Ontario’s education funding: