Ministry of Education

Supporting the Safe Reopening and

Operation of Schools
Technical Briefing

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 Key Milestones
January 25, 2021: return
to in-person learning for
December 20, 2020: seven southern PHUs:
Announcement that (Grey Bruce; Haliburton,
elementary and Kawartha, Pine Ridge;
secondary schools in Hastings and Prince February 1, 2021:
Ontario will be closed the Edward Counties; return to in-person
week following winter Kingston, Frontenac and learning for four
holiday break, Jan 4-8; Lennox & Addington; southern PHUs:
emergency child care Leeds, Grenville and (Eastern Ontario;
program announced Lanark; Peterborough; Middlesex-London;
Renfrew) Southwestern; Ottawa)

September October November December January February

September 8, 2020:
Schools are reopened across the January 11, 2021: Schools in Windsor-Essex,
province, with full time Elementary and Peel Region, Toronto, York and
elementary and adapted models secondary schools in the Hamilton PHUs and all
for secondary in designated seven northern PHUs remaining schools not yet
boards. Areas with smaller permitted to return to in- open asked to plan for return
populations return to person learning, to in-person learning. Return
conventional secondary delivery. additional health and pending direction from CMOH
(NOTE: French school boards returned
before this date and many GTA boards safety measures and Ministry.
were delayed to later in September) introduced

The Ministry of Education has continued to consult with the CMOH and other public health
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experts to support the safe reopening and operation of schools throughout the 2020-21
school year, including additional PHUs that may reopen.
 Funding Announcements to Support Safe Reopening
August 13, 2020:
Access to school board
reserves up to $496
million, $11 million for
school boards without
sufficient reserves, $50
million to support
improved ventilation and
air quality in schools, and
$18 million to support
remote learning
July August September
July 30, 2020:
Plan for safe reopening
of schools, as well as
$309 million in
targeted, immediate
and evidence-informed
August 26, 2020:
investments
Initial $381 million
provided by the
Federal government
under the Safe Return
to Class Fund
3 April 6, 2020: Support for Families is launched, which provided direct financial support
to parents while schools and child care centres were closed
October 5, 2020:
February 1, 2021:
Allocation of $35 million
November 30, 2020: Additional $381
from federal reserve
Support for Learners million provided by
funding to provide
is launched, the Federal
additional immediate
providing financial government under
school board supports in
relief totalling $380 the Safe Return to
the hotspot areas of
million Class Fund
Peel, Ottawa, Toronto
and York
October November December January
November 26, 2020:
Allocation of $13.6 million
from federal reserve funding December 22, 2020:
to provide additional Additional $110
immediate school board million to expand
supports in Durham, Halton, Support for learners
Hamilton and Waterloo to include students
Region, and $1.4 million to aged 13 to Grade 12
fund technology related
costs
Key Achievements to Date
Since Spring 2020, the Ontario government has provided critical supports to ensure the safe learning and
well-being of all students and staff.
1. Reopening Investments: Almost $1.3 billion in resources available to support the safe reopening and
operation of schools
2. Supports for Staff Hiring: Including temporary changes to allow eligible teacher candidates to obtain a
new Temporary Certificate of Qualification and Registration and making resources available to support
additional hiring.
3. Ventilation: investments to support HVAC devices and upgrades to ventilation in schools.
4. Remote Learning: Supporting students, teachers and families through the introduction of a new
education delivery model, online training, digital content and resources
5. Mental Health Supports: Supports for students with mental health needs, such as Kid’s Help Phone
and mental health resources
6. Special Education Supports: Supports for students with special needs
7. Health and Safety Guidance: Clear, updated health and safety guidance aligned with the Chief Medical
Officer of Health and public health advice
8. Personal Protective Equipment: PPE and essential cleaning supplies for schools and child care centres
9. Targeted Testing: Introducing and expanding targeted testing in schools and child care settings for
students, children, and staff.
10. Emergency Child Care: Launching a fully subsidized targeted emergency child care program for eligible
parents who are not able to support the learning/care of their school-aged children while elementary
schools are operating remotely.
11. Support Payment Programs: Nearly $900M in direct financial support for families across Ontario
through the Support for Families and Support for Learners programs

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Reopening Investments
To date, the Ontario government has made almost $1.3 billion in resources available to support
school reopening, including $381 million in initial federal support. This includes:

• $100 million to hire additional teachers to keep class sizes small

• $62.5 million to hire 625 public health nurses to monitor for COVID-19 in
Staffing schools
and
Additional • $79 million to hire additional dedicated custodians and purchase cleaning
Hiring supplies
• $10 million for health and safety training of occasional teachers and casual
education workers

• $90 million for PPE for staff and students, in addition to the approximately $50
million in PPE/CSE being shipped by the Ministry of Government and Consumer
Increasing Services each month
Health • $23.6 million for COVID-19 testing in schools
and • $65.5 million for enhanced cleaning and safety measures for student
Safety transportation
Measures • $50 million to optimize air quality in schools
• $44.5 million to support the school bus driver retention strategy
• $48.6 million to support communities with higher rates of transmission
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Reopening Investments

• $42.5 million to support students with special needs and provide student
mental health supports through the hiring of a combination of up to 657
Supports
educational assistants, mental health workers,
for
professional/paraprofessionals and teachers
Students,
including • $54 million to hire an additional 306 principals and vice-principals as well
Remote as 206 administrative staffing supports to better deliver and oversee
Learning remote learning
• $1.4 million for the Education and Community Partnership Program to
fund technology and technology-related costs

•$100 million to be responsive to local school board reopening plan priorities

Supporting •Up to $496 million by allowing school boards to unlock reserves and access up to
Financial two per cent of their operating budget from their reserve funds
Flexibility •Up to $11 million to support school boards that do not have sufficient reserves
to promote equitable school re-opening plans province wide

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Reopening Investments:
Phase 2 Federal Safe Return to Class Fund
• The second phase of federal investment under the Safe Return to Class Fund, totaling
an additional $381 million, will support the following:
o $64.55 million in health and safety funding, including board funded and
transportation related PPE costs
o $62 million in summer learning supports
o $60 million to support online learning, including developing digital course
content and technological supports
o $80 million to support the purchase of additional devices such as laptops and
tablets
o $50 million for portable HEPA filters and other immediate options to improve air
quality and ventilation
o $33 million set aside for additional measures to support hotspot communities
o $10 million to support the Student Nutrition Program
o $10 million to continue to support the mental health of all students and support
the implementation of the new School Mental Health Ontario Action Kit
o $6.45 million to support equity initiatives
o $5 million to support operators to ensure the continued success of student
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Expanded Staffing
School boards have been funded for additional staffing for teachers, custodians, and
mental health and special education staff.
School boards have hired:
• 3,400 additional teachers, and are seeking to hire 890 more
• 1,430 additional custodians, and are seeking to hire 400 more
• Over 500 principals, vice-principals and admin staff to support new virtual schools
• Over 650 educational assistants, mental health workers and professionals to provide
special education and mental health supports

School boards are reporting class sizes below the provincially funded average class size
across all grades K-12.

The ministry has supported teacher hiring through:

• an agreement to allow retired teachers to work for an extended period of time
• by allowing teacher candidates to work as supply teachers through transitional
teaching certificates. (See Appendix A for further details)

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Ventilation
• In August,2020, school boards received $50 million to support immediate ventilation
upgrades.

o By mid-Fall, almost all school ventilation systems across the province had been
assessed and over 90% of schools had either upgraded or enhanced their air filtration
systems.

o As of January, school boards reported they had secured:

 Over 23,000 HEPA filters

 Over 20,000 portable HEPA units and nearly 3,000 other ventilation devices

• Through the second phase of federal investments, school boards will receive an additional
$50M to continue their ventilation investments.
• Ontario is leveraging federal investments through the Canada Infrastructure Program to
support an additional $700 million for a range of repairs, retrofits and upgrades such as
improving ventilation, and adding hand-washing and water-bottle filling stations.
• These investments supplement the $1.4 billion annual School Renewal funding. Ontario
school boards completed $130 million in HVAC-related repairs/renewals in Summer 2020.
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Remote Learning Supports
• School boards have upgraded their readiness to support remote learning, and to pivot
to this mode of delivery for school, classroom or cohort closures.
• The ministry issued important policy guidance in August, 2020, through
Policy/Program Memorandum (PPM) No. 164: Requirements for Remote Learning.
o This PPM ensures parents and students know what to expect from remote
learning when conventional in-person learning is interrupted.
o This PPM outlines a remote school day for students through defined minutes of
synchronous learning by grade.
• Prior to the start of the 2020-21 school year, school boards were required to
implement three mandatory Professional Activity (PA) days focused on school re-
entry. This included mandatory training for educators on remote and online learning.
• Webinars, online modules, and a self-assessment readiness checklist are available to
teachers to help them pivot to remote learning. To-date, over 30,000 educators have
participated in the training. School boards have also provided training.
• School boards have received funding to support technology and connectivity and
report that:
o 176,000 devices to support remote learning have been purchased
o 9,500 connectivity devices to support remote learning have been purchased

o The second phase of federal funding will provide an additional $80 million for
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technology.
Remote Learning Supports
• To ensure students and families are supported and respected in making decisions that
work best for them, in-person school attendance is optional for the 2020-21 school
year. If not attending in-person, students are expected to attend school remotely.
• School boards report that 369,000 elementary students and 128,000 secondary
students are studying remotely full-time.
• School boards were supported in setting up virtual schools through $54 M in funding
for over 500 principals, vice-principals and other school staffing, so that students
studying remotely can continue to access school supports.
• As a resource for teachers, families and students, two comprehensive online learning
resources have been made available:

The ministry launched new English and French elementary student learning portals,
developed in partnership with TVO and TFO, to provide engaging lessons linked to the
Grades 1 to 8 Ontario curriculum. TVO Learn can be accessed at https://tvolearn.com/
and TFO at https://www.idello.org/fr/apprendre-a-la-maison.

Secondary students can access TVO’s Independent Learning Centre (ILC) Open House and
Portes ouvertes pour les cours TVO ILC in French-language, which provide access to 144
Grade 9 to 12 courses.
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Mental Health Supports
• Mental health supports have been a priority throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In the spring of 2020, school boards were provided with confidential communications
technology through the Ontario Telemedicine Network to allow their staff to continue to
reach, counsel and support students.
• $8 M in additional funding was provided to allow school boards to offer mental health
supports throughout the summer of 2020.
• Mental health support resources were developed and released in late August for the 2020-
21 school year.
• All teachers received professional development in mental health prior to the school year.
• A Mental Health Action Kit was developed and distributed in January, 2021, with supports
for students, staff and parents/guardians.
• For the 2020-21 school year, school boards received additional funding for mental health
and special education supports totaling $42.5 M, supporting up to 657 new staff.
• Of this, $20 M was reserved specifically for mental health.
• Through the second phase of the federal funding:
• An additional $9 M for mental health supports is being allocated to school boards
• $1M is being provided to Kids Help Phone to support their invaluable work
• A portion of the $62 M for summer learning will be used to repeat the support for
mental health supports for students throughout the summer

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Special Education Supports
• The government is committed to ensuring that all students, including students with special
education needs, have the supports they need to succeed.
• $14 M in additional funding was provided to school boards to support participation of
students with special education needs in summer learning programs and offer transitional
programs prior to the start of the 2020-21 school year.
• For the 2020-21 school year, school boards received additional funding for mental health
and special education staffing totaling $42.5 M, supporting up to 657 new staff.
• Of this, $10 M was reserved specifically for special education.

• Through the second phase of federal funding, a portion of the $62 M for summer learning
will be used to repeat the support for students with special education needs to participate
in summer programs in 2021.
• During the current period of school closures, school boards are supporting students with
special education needs that are not able to participation in remote learning with in-school
education.
• Approximately 10,000 students are being supported in schools.
• To support those learning online, school boards are ensuring that students continue to
have access to their educational assistants and other specialized staff, as well as the
adaptive equipment they need.

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Health and Safety Guidance
School boards were provided with extensive health and safety guidance, informed by
public health and Ministry of Labour experts, through the Guide to Reopening Ontario’s
Schools.
The guide outlined the requirement to employ multiple strategies, including:
o Self-screening, adapted school environments, hand hygiene, masking, cohorting,
distancing, limiting visitors, and guidance for staffing.
o Student transportation guidance required the use of masks, assigned seating, PPE for
drivers, and enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols.
Families, students and staff across Ontario are able to access the COVID-19 school and
child care screening tool.
The ministry released a separate but aligned guidance document, Operational Guidance:
COVID-19 Management in Schools, which has been updated to reflect additional health
and safety measures and Ministry of Health guidance.
$62.5 M supported the hiring of 625 public health nurses to support schools. These
nurses have completed over 55,000 consultations with families and schools on screening,
testing, contact tracing, and outbreak management.

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 New Health and Safety Measures
• On January 12, 2021, the government announced the introduction of additional health and
safety measures across the province for schools when they return to further support safe
learning environments for students and staff and help ensure transmission rates remain low.

Measures Fall 2020 Winter 2021

Mandatory masking for students in Grades 1-3*

On-site confirmation of screening for staff and secondary

students
Discouraging students from congregating before and after school

Expansion of targeted on-site voluntary testing for students and

staff
Mandatory masking for students in Grades 4-12*
Students and staff must self-screen every day before getting on
a school vehicle or attending school
Common spaces and structures (e.g. gyms, libraries, play
structures) are to be used by one class cohort at a time

• The Ministry of Education has worked with the Ministry of Health to provide updated guidance
documents reflecting this new direction.
• These enhanced measures will also apply in licensed child care settings.
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* Note that masking requirements apply indoors, in school vehicles, and for outdoor activities
where physical distancing cannot be maintained (outdoor requirement new as of Winter 2021).
Personal Protective Equipment
• Ontario’s child care centres and schools have been supported in adopting a high
standard for personal protective equipment.
• Students in grades 1-12 are required to wear non-medical masks, and school boards
report full compliance.
• Staff in schools and child care centres are required to wear surgical masks and eye
protection, as well as gloves and gowns where needed.
• The government delivers, on average, $50M of PPE and covid-related cleaning
supplies each month to school boards and child care centres. This includes:
• 600,000 face shields and other eye protection
• 18 million surgical masks
• 13 million gloves
• 750,000 gowns
• 750,000 liters of hand sanitizer

The government is delivering 3.5M high quality cloth masks to school boards for the
second semester, to supplement students’ own masks and ensure availability.
Bus drivers are also provided with medical masks, eye protection and additional cleaning
products. Students are required to wear masks on buses.
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Targeted Testing
• On November 26, 2020, the ministry launched voluntary targeted COVID-19 testing in schools in
regions of the province with a high number of active COVID-19 cases, including Toronto, Peel,
Ottawa and York.
• This testing approach has helped to identify cases early, inform public health decisions, and
manage outbreaks. Expanding access to testing will be a valuable tool for parts of the province
experiencing high levels of community transmission and outbreaks.
• Voluntary targeted testing for asymptomatic students, staff and families was undertaken
between November 26 and December 18, 2020 in Toronto, Peel, York and Ottawa.
o Targeted testing was completed in 63 schools with approximately 9,000 tests completed
o Of these, 227 cases of COVID-19 were identified (2.5% of all tests)
o In over 50% of schools no new cases were identified
o 58% of these cases were attributed to members of households (132 cases)
o 37% were attributed to students (83 cases)
o 5% were attributed to staff (12 cases)
o Approximately 1.8% of participating students tested positive, and less than 1% of
participating staff tested positive.
• In January 2021, the government announced the expansion of targeted testing for students and
staff. Testing will be voluntary and will also include child care settings.
• Schools and child care settings will be identified by local public health, with a focus on
supporting the resumption of in-person learning and those experiencing outbreaks or high case
counts.

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Emergency Child Care
• On January 4, 2021, EDU launched a fully subsidized targeted emergency child care program
for eligible parents who are not able to support the learning/care of their school-aged children
while elementary schools are operating remotely.
• There are over 540 emergency child care programs operating province-wide. Utilization rates
have been growing over time with on average 3,500 children attending each day.
• Eligibility for the program is focused on those parents who are performing critical, front-line
roles in their communities and who are required to attend work in person.
• The eligibility list has been updated to respond to the evolving child care needs of parents in
communities across the province and as the timelines associated with remote learning have
been extended in some regions.
• As of January 27, the following were added:
o Individuals working in fuel distribution and oil refineries;
o Education staff who are required to report to work in person while their children
continue with remote learning;
o Grocery store and pharmacy employees;
o Truck drivers;
o Farmers and those who support food/agricultural product supply chains;
o Individuals involved in waste collection, storage, processing, recycling; and
o Individuals working in the manufacturing and distribution of disinfectants and
sanitizers.
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Support Payment Programs
The Ontario government has continued to support parents and families throughout
school closures.
Support for Learners
• The government is currently providing one-time financial support for families during
this temporary remote learning period through the Support for Learners program.
• Starting on January 11, 2021, an expanded Support for Learners program is providing:
o $200 for each child/youth up to grade 12, and;
o $250 for each child/youth up to age 21 with special needs.

• There have been over two million applications as of January 25th, 2021 with payments
made to over 1.7 million children and youth. Applications will be accepted until
February 8, 2021.

Support for Families

• This program provided one-time financial support during initial school closures in the
Spring and Summer of 2020.
• Funding was intended to offset the cost of buying materials to support children’s
learning while they practiced self-isolation and physical distancing and was available
to children 0-12 years old (and 0-21 years old in the case of a child/youth with special
needs).
•19 Parents of over 1.6 million children and youth received payments under this program.
This program is now closed.
 COVID-19 Activity in Schools
Highlights
Based on data reported by school boards on COVID-19 activity in schools:
• As of December 18, 2020, approximately 80% of schools had no active cases
• From the beginning of the school year through to December 18, 2020, approximately
70% of schools had either no cases or only one case

Since reopening in September:

• Approximately 99.6% of students have not had a reported case of COVID-19
• 58 schools, or about 1% of the 4,828 schools in Ontario, closed due to COVID-19
outbreaks or COVID-19 related operational considerations

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Next Steps
• As per government communication provided on January 27, the following PHUs have
been permitted to resume in-person instruction as of February 1, 2021:
o Eastern Ontario Health Unit
o Middlesex-London Health Unit
o Ottawa Public Health
o Southwestern Public Health

• These PHUs join the seven northern PHUs that were permitted to reopen on January
11, 2021, and an additional seven southern PHUs that were permitted to reopen on
January 25, 2021.
• Schools located in all other PHUs that have not yet been permitted to reopen will
continue to learn remotely at this time.
• The Ministry of Education will continue to seek advice from the Chief Medical Officer
of Health on which schools may reopen based on the current data.

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Appendix A:
Temporary Certificate of Qualification and Registration
• A temporary change is being made to allow eligible teacher candidates to obtain a new Temporary
Certificate of Qualification and Registration (temporary certificate).
• The new temporary certificate is intended to provide temporary staffing stabilization and relief
for Ontario schools that are experiencing occasional teacher shortages and absenteeism due to
COVID-19.
• Eligible teacher candidates must:
• be enrolled in an Ontario Initial Teacher Education (ITE) program,
• have successfully completed a portion of the practicum,
• be making satisfactory progress in their program, and
• be scheduled (or expected) to complete the program by December 31, 2021.
• As well, educators who hold similar teaching certificates from other provinces or territories will
also be eligible to apply for the temporary certificate.
• Amendments were made to Ontario Regulation 298 Operation of Schools and Ontario Regulation
176/10 Teachers Qualifications. Both amendments came into force on January 30, 2021.
• Temporary certificates will expire on December 31, 2021.
• Boards will continue to hire from their daily and long-term occasional teaching lists prior to hiring
teacher candidates on a temporary certificate.

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