If you’re interested in homeschooling in Canada, you’ll need to learn the laws. I recently made the decision to homeschool so I know a little bit about the laws and process of becoming a homeschooler, and let me tell you it’s pretty simple.
Homeschooling is legal in Canada, but the homeschooling laws range throughout each province. In some provinces you’ll need to register as a homeschooler with your school board, or the government and in some you can just start homeschooling without giving any notice.
Want to homeschool in Canada? Keep reading to find out all the rules of homeschooling in each province.
Homeschooling Laws in Canada
As I said before it depends where you live in Canada, so here are the homeschooling laws by province and territory.
British Colombia
There are 2 main options for homeschooling in British Colombia. You can do Distributed Learning (DL) where you are enrolled, which is basically where you do classes online that a teacher has put together, that follow your school districts regulations for education. Normally if you’re in the older grades you will get credits for this and you can graduate with a dogwood diploma through a DL program.
Then there is regular homeschooling where you are just registered with the school district, and you can have the independence to learn whatever you want, but you will not get a dogwood diploma. Most homeschoolers can get financial support depending on where they are. Parents who choose to homeschool have to register their kid by September 30th of that school year. You can contact the school for the registration process.
Alberta
In Alberta homeschoolers need to register with a school board somewhere in the province. You can choose one of 3 options for homeschooling; parental responsibilities, school authority responsibilities and blended learning. Parental responsibilities is notifying a school board but completely making your own plans and not following the curriculum.
School authority responsibilities is when you can ask for support from the school board and they will make sure that the kid is meeting their goals. In other words it normally means that they are following the curriculum a little bit. Finally the blended learning is when you have a teacher making a curriculum plan, resources, assessments and evaluations for the student. You can get funding if you’ve registered before September 30th.
Saskatchewan
In Saskatchewan you must register with your school board and make a curriculum plan your kid. You’ll then need to keep a portfolio or have a written summary of the work your child has done which you will need to show at the end of the year to make sure that they are keeping up with the educational requirements.
Manitoba
Homeschooling in Manitoba has one option, which is just regular homeschooling, where you are responsible for your child’s education. You must be inform the government that you will homeschool your kid before September 30th or 30 days before you start homeschooling. You will need to fill out an official report about the learning your child has completed. There are no funding opportunities in Manitoba for homeschool families.
Ontario
There are no requirements for homeschooling in Ontario. You just need to send the school board a yearly notification in writing, and this should include some information like names, birth dates and genders of each child that you are homeschooling. There is no funding for homeschoolers in Ontario.
Quebec
There has been recent changes in Quebec since 2018 of the regulations. Now homeschoolers must notify the school board and minister of their intent to homeschool, and send their outline plans for the year. Parents will need to send a report during the year and at the end of the year kids have an evaluation done. There is also no homeschool funding.
New Brunswick
In New Brunswick students from age 5 to 18 are required to attend school unless the minister is satisfied with the education given elsewhere. families must follow 5 guidelines if they are considering homeschooling. The rules are; make sure homeschooling is the right option, apply for a homeschooling exemption, plan a home instruction curriculum, make sure to evaluate child’s progress and prepare child for returning to school eventually. To get a homeschooling exemption, you must fill out an annual homeschooling application form and submit it to the school district.
Prince Edward Island
It is quite easy to homeschool in PEI, parents just need to fill out an notice of intent to the school board. There is only one type of homeschooling which is independent and parents can choose what to teach their child. There are no funding opportunities.
Nova Scotia
In Nova Scotia you need to fill out a registration form for homeschooling for your kid, which you’ll need to print out and mail. Then in June you will need to show the progress your kid has made. There is no funding for homeschoolers.
Newfoundland & Labrador
Parents will need to apply to homeschool by June for the school year coming up in Newfoundland and Labrador. There is no funding available for homeschoolers.
Yukon
In the Yukon students can be completely homeschooled or be cross enrolled with their public school for some courses. You need to coordinate through the Aurora Virtual School to homeschool, their staff can help you with setting up a home education plan, cross enrolling in public schools and more. The Yukon uses British Colombia’s curriculum for their guidelines. There is funding available for students homeschooling in the Yukon.
Northwest Territories
In the Northwest Territories you’ll need to register your kid in their local school, but parents still have responsibility for their education. Homeschoolers can get funding for school expenses.
Nunavut
In Nunavut you need to register with your local school and students will still need to participate in leadership activities. Nunavut follows Alberta’s education program. There is funding available for homeschoolers.
Benefits of Homeschooling in Canada
There are quite a few benefits to homeschooling in Canada that some countries don’t have, so here are some of them.
In most provinces in Canada there are lots of options for homeschooling. The laws for homeschooling in Canada gives you flexibility to choose your own curriculum for your child or children. Another benefit is that there are a lot of homeschool groups online and offline that you can connect with. Most groups have fun activities planned weekly that you can participate in. And even if there are no homeschool groups where you live, consider starting one.
You can teach your kids based on their own interests. It’s great bonding time, and lots of fun, and not every country will allow homeschooled students to be taught by their parent. Homeschooling in some provinces like British Colombia, Alberta and the Yukon, you can even get funding for educational expenses.
In Canada you have access to a lot of homeschooling resources. You can choose the type of homeschooling where you have a teacher come in once in a while and make sure your child is doing well. There are also online homeschooling classes, where the student can do all their learning online, and get credits for them in the older grades.
Choosing Curriculum for Homeschooling
When you’re choosing curriculum it depends on many things. Are you planning on following the curriculum of the school board? Or are you going to just figure it out along the way? There is no right way to do it and you don’t need to pick all the curriculum right away, but there are some steps that can make finding curriculum and projects easier.
First things first, you’ll need to figure out your child’s learning style and what they are interested in learning. Maybe your child learns best by doing hands on activities and seeing or experiencing subjects. Maybe they learn best through reading or maybe a combination. It can be different for everyone. You can test a few different ways and see which one your kid responds to best. If you’re going to be the teacher then you should also definitely consider how you would like to teach.
It’s good to base some of your child’s learning off of their interests. They might enjoy certain subjects more and if there is something, consider going more in depth in the subject as it will be enjoyable for your kid and they will understand it more. Also it’s important to think about post-secondary school if you homeschool a high schooler. Find out what they would like to do and base some learning off of that.
An easy way to decide what your child should learn is to look for the curriculum in your school district. See what they would be doing if they were in conventional school. If you can’t find it you can always ask the school. But maybe you wanted to homeschool your kids because of the flawed curriculum.
Of course you don’t need to plan out an exact curriculum right away. It’s good to have flexibility to choose what to learn as you go.