Accessibility in Education

Equal accessibility of education in Canada

The Canadian school system has gone through many stages of growth, since its origins in the mid-1800s. Religious groups operated the first schools in Canada. By 1847, legislation revolving around the formation and organization of schools emerged. Over time, as Canada separated church and state, provinces changed religious schools into the current day public school system. Throughout Canada's educational history, schools were not always accessible to every Canadian. Discrimination against gender, disabilities, religion, language, race and culture occurred. For more information on Canada's specific past policies in its education history, click here.

The following section shows an overview of Canadian legislation that has promoted equality and accessibility to those in the education system.

Brief History of Federal Education Legislation

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Written in 1982, this section of Canada's Constitution protects the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Canadians. The charter applies to all federal and provincial governments, including Canadians within the classroom.
The Canadian Human Rights Act
- Parliament passed this act in 1977, which prohibits discrimination and harassment within the workplace. By extension, it guarantees equality for Canadians with disabilities, First Nations and minorities.
Article 24 of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- This act prohibits discrimination against children with disabilities and allows the right to inclusive education. Each province has to fulfill the inclusive education aspect of this act after Canada ratified it in 2010.
Accessible Canada Act (Bill C-81)
- Passed in 2019, this bill will further seek to change the way the Canadian government addresses disabilities. By promoting inclusivity and prohibiting discrimination based on disabilities, in all federal systems in Canada and private sector businesses under federal jurisdiction.

Socio-Economic Challenges to Education

While Canada has gone through a long history of promoting equal access to education for all, there are still many disparities within the school system, especially regarding socio-economic classes. The 2018 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, based on Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) standardized testing scores, illustrates a gap in students' performance based on their social and economic standings. Among economically advantaged and economically disadvantaged students there is a gap of 71 points, while 45% of economically disadvantaged students attend economically disadvantaged schools. This is an issue as disadvantaged students who attend advantaged schools score almost 46 points higher on the PISA standardized test. Across Canada, every student should have accessibility to equal opportunities in education. Because of socioeconomic barriers, equal opportunities for education are not always present. While Canada still ranks better than other countries in socioeconomic equality, there is still work to be done to ensure every student regardless of socio-economic status has access to an equal and good education. Below is an outline of the challenges and differences of private versus public schools and the affordability of each.

Enrollment Across Canadian Schools

The latest study conducted by US News & World Report's "2020 Best Countries for Education" ranked Canada as the third-best country for the second year in a row. The ranking is based on three attributes:

Whether the country has a well-developed public education system.
Whether people would consider attending university there.
Whether the country provides a high-quality education.

Both public and private schools in Canada have seen an increase in enrolment. In particular, private schools (also referred to as independent schools) have a large demand and long waiting lists.