ONTARIO
Homeschooling in Ontario: Requirements, Paperwork, and How to Start
One written notice to your school board, and nothing else. Ontario is among the lightest-regulated provinces in Canada — here is what it asks, and what StudyPug records while your child works.
Homeschooling in Ontario, Summarized
The Six Things Ontario Asks of You
Legal in Ontario
Yes
Compulsory ages
6 to 18
Do I notify anyone?
Yes — once each school year
before September 1
Paperwork load
Low
Parent qualification
None required
Standardized testing
Not required
EQAO is optional
Legal requirements last reviewed: August 2026 · Plain English · Not legal advice
Homeschooling is legal in Ontario
What You Need to Know
Ontario permits home instruction under section 21 of the Education Act, with PPM 131 setting how boards handle it. An annual written notice to your local board is required in practice, even though PPM 131 binds boards rather than families. No curriculum approval, no plan, no testing, no parent qualification.
What Ontario Asks of You
One notice a year — that is the whole of it.
Must do
Send your local school board written notice of your intent to home-school
Dates that matter
Before September 1 each year, to continue for that school year
Good practice — not required
Keep your own records — Ontario asks for none, but they help if you enroll later
Keep a copy of the notice you sent, and any acknowledgement the board returns
Notice names the child, date of birth and your contact details, and carries your signature. PPM 131 says boards should normally not investigate.
Ontario asks for one notice and no records at all. StudyPug keeps the records anyway, ready if you ever need them.
Funding for Ontario Home Education
The short answer, before the detail.
Ontario provides no direct funding to homeschooling families.
No provincial grant, no education savings account, no reimbursement. Full-time home-schooled children sit in no enrollment register, so no per-student funding follows them. Part-time attendance is prorated to the board, not to you.
To your family
$0 — no provincial funding
To apply for
Nothing — there is no program
Part-time attendance
Prorated to the board, not to you
What StudyPug Handles for You
Not templates you fill in — records that fill themselves in.
Work-samples record — useful in the rare case a board asks
Hours & attendance log that fills itself in
Progress reports you can download and share
Scope & Sequence you can share with your board if you choose
Every child in one account — up to 5
Questions About Homeschooling in Ontario
Quick answers for homeschooling families.
Is homeschooling legal in Ontario?
Yes. Section 21(2)(a) of the Education Act excuses a child from attendance where they are receiving satisfactory instruction at home. Policy/Program Memorandum 131 sets out how school boards are to handle home-schooling, including the annual written notification.
Do parents need a teaching certificate?
No. Ontario requires no parent qualification or credential of any kind. You choose the curriculum, the materials and the approach, and no one reviews your suitability to teach.
Does Ontario fund homeschooling?
No. There is no provincial grant, education savings account or reimbursement for home-schooling families in Ontario. Full-time home-schooled children sit in no enrollment register, so no per-student funding follows them. Part-time attendance at a public school is funded to the board on a prorated basis, not paid to you.
What exactly do I have to send the school board?
A written notification of your intent to home-school: the child's name, gender and date of birth, your name and contact details, and your signature. PPM 131 directs boards to accept it and, normally, not to investigate. There is no form to be approved and no plan to submit.
Do I have to use the Ontario Curriculum?
No. Ontario places no curriculum requirement on home-schooling families — you may follow the provincial curriculum, another program, or your own. Many families follow the Ontario Curriculum anyway, because it keeps the door open to enrolling later and makes it easier to show what has been covered.
What records should I keep, and for how long?
Ontario imposes no recordkeeping obligation: no portfolio, no lesson plans, no attendance log, no report cards. Keeping your own is still worth doing — it makes re-enrolling, moving province, or answering a board that has grounds to ask far simpler. Keep them for as long as they might be useful to you.
What if we move mid-year, in Canada or abroad?
Moving within Ontario: notify your new local board, since the notification is board-specific. Leaving Ontario: your arrangement simply ends and your new province's or country's rules apply. There is no provincial file, though your board keeps the notification itself for three years.
Official Sources
Confirm the rules and apply directly with your province.
Ontario PPM 131 — Home Schooling
→The policy that governs how boards handle home-schooling.
ontario.ca — Policy/Program Memorandum 131
Education Act, R.S.O. 1990 c. E.2
→The satisfactory-instruction exemption in the statute itself.
ontario.ca — Education Act
PPM 131 with Appendix B
→The memorandum as issued, including the sample notification letter.
edu.gov.on.ca — PPM 131 (PDF)
Other Provinces:
Homeschooling in Prince Edward Island·Homeschooling in Saskatchewan·Homeschooling in Alberta— each reviewed against its own official sources
See How Families Run Their Homeschool on StudyPug
Lessons, practice, and the records above — one family plan.
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StudyPug is a records tool, not legal advice. Homeschool rules, funding amounts, and deadlines change at least yearly — always confirm with the official sources above before you act. Requirements can also differ at the school-board or district level, so check with your local board or district too. We review every jurisdiction page and show you the date we last checked it; each requirement in your dashboard carries its own source and last-verified date.
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