Students Return to Class

On the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, with the support of the local Medical Officers of Health, and with the introduction of additional layers of protection, 280,000 students in four public health regions will return to class the week of February 1. This means that all schools in the following local school boards will resume in-person learning:

• Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario
• Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario
• Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien
• Upper Canada District School Board

The growing consensus in the medical community is that returning students to in-person learning is essential to the wellbeing, development and mental health of children. According to leading medical and scientific experts, including Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Ontario’s schools are safe places for learning.

“In the fall, we introduced one of the most comprehensive back-to-school plans in the country with strict health and safety measures,” said Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. “As more students and staff return to in-person learning, we are building on our plan by introducing stronger masking protocols to include grades 1-3, expanding access to targeted asymptomatic testing, and implementing stricter screening protocols.”

BACKGROUND                                                                                            

Elementary and secondary schools in four additional public health units (PHUs) will be permitted to return to in-person learning on February 1, 2021. This will bring the total number of students able to learn in-person to 520,000 across the province.

The four additional PHUs are:

• Eastern Ontario Health Unit
• Middlesex-London Health Unit
• Southwestern Public Health
• Ottawa Public Health

Local PHUs continue to have the authority to close schools based on their unique circumstances, and parents may choose to permit their children to continue learning remotely.

Schools in the remaining PHUs will continue with remote learning.

In the PHUs that are permitted to return to in-person learning on February 1, before and after school child care programs may also resume on February 1 and emergency child care will end on January 29. In the PHUs where schools are continuing with remote learning, before and after school programs continue to be closed and emergency child care remains available to support children of frontline workers.