Q/A BLOG
JOHN SCHUMAN’S FAMILY LAW BLOG
Here is where you will find ongoing up-to-date useful information on family law topics, such as separation, divorce, custody and access, child support, spousal support, property division, marriage contracts, family mediation and arbitration. This blog is designed to answer your family law questions, so look around.
This blog will answer a lot of common family law, divorce, separation, and parenting issues. If you are having trouble finding the information that you need, just use the search box on the left. It will help you find the answers you need to your family law or divorce matter.
All of the answers are provided by a practicing Ontario Family Law/Divorce Lawyer. However, note that small changes in circumstances can lead to a big change in how the law applies to the situation. It is always important to discuss your particular circumstances with an experienced family law lawyer. You can contact John Schuman at 416-446-5080 or by emailing him. For more information about how to contact John.
In addition to this blog, you can get a lot more information about Family Law in John Schuman’s book, The Guide to the Basics of Ontario Family Law, which is available from Amazon as a paperback or a $9.99 Kindle eBook, Kobo eBook, or iBook for your iPad or iPhone.
Don’t wait to get the Family Law information you need. Not knowing how the law works has gotten many people into serious Family Law trouble. Before your Divorce or child protection case goes wrong, find out how the law applies to you!
What Parents Need to Know About Private Schools and Education Law – Before Signing Their Kids Up!
In our education law practice, around half of our cases are on behalf of parents against private schools because the school did not meet the parent’s expectations, told a child to leave without good reason, or did not meet their child’s needs. This post is not intended to take a stand against private schools, especially those that our firm represents. Half of our cases on behalf of parents are against public schools. However, it is often the private school parents, not the public school ones, who have large misconceptions about how Ontario’s Education Act, or Education Law more broadly, apply to the schools their children attend.
The reality is that Ontario Private Schools do not have the same curriculum, rules or legally imposed standards that public schools do. The Ontario Government allows a lot more choice when parents choose a private education.
That is precisely the reason why parents pick Ontario Private Schools. Some parents do not want their kids taking sexual education classes, some don’t like the anti-bullying component that is mandatory in public schools, some parents what subject taught with a religious focus, some parents want schools that use permissible corporal punishment or other types of discipline that are not available in public schools, some parents don’t want their kids being taught along side kids that have special needs or are otherwise disadvantaged, some parents want teachers with qualifications that are different from the qualifications required by the Ontario College of Teachers or want their children to have teachers that are not confined by the standards of practice and ethics imposed by that body.
Choosing Private School is About Opting Out of Government Standards and Requirements
In choosing a private school, parents are choosing an education that is very different from that provided by public schools. This post is not about whether public or private schools are better because that largely depends on the specific school in either system. But, what many parents do not understand is that while it is NOT true that the Education Act does not apply to private schools, more than 95% of the Education Act does not apply. Further, the Ministry of Education does not regulate, licence, or otherwise oversee the day-to-day operation of private schools. The Ministry does not even inspect elementary schools or high schools that do not grant Ontario Secondary School Diplomas, even if those schools provide other diplomas such as the IB program.
The Ministry of Education provides a LOT of direction to public schools about how they will operate. It does this through the Education Act, Government Regulations and Policy and Procedure Memoranda that all set out exactly how public schools must do things. In most, if not all, circumstances, those directions are rooted in the latest research into best teaching practices. In several areas, the expectations placed on public schools are considered to be the best in the world. But private schools are not required to follow them.
To be clear, private schools do NOT have to follow the direction of from the Ministry of Education on areas such as:
- Discipline – including suspensions, expulsions or other forms of discipline
- Removing a child from his or her school
- Addressing the special needs of students
- Anti-bullying programs
- Specific curriculum content
- Student evaluation or testing procedures
- Communication with parents
- Participation in school activities
- Codes of conduct or dress code
- Vaccination or other health requirements or
- Record keeping
- Teacher or principal qualifications
If your child needs or would benefit from the specific standards or procedures set by the Ministry of Education, then you may want to look at public schools and even what you have to get your child into a specific public school.
Obviously, many private schools boast of having standards that exceed the requirements expected of public schools. However, there is no legislative nor government requirement that a private school even meet the standards in public schools. The Ontario Government is not going to step in to ensure that a child is being properly educated or treated at a private school and will look at the curriculum content only if the school wants to give the student an Ontario Secondary School Diploma.
Private School Standards Are Set Privately Between Parents and the School
That does not mean there are no legal requirements placed on private schools, just that those legal requirements do not come from the government. Instead, they come from the contract that the parents sign with the school. Like with End User Licence Agreements on apps and phones, parents tend to skip over these contracts assuming they have some form of standard terms, or that they are related only to payment of fees or other unimportant matters. But, those contracts set out what education parents can expect their children to receive and how the school will treat those children.
Private Schools Set Their Own Rules for Kicking Kids Out
Looking at specifics, one area where private school parents are often caught off guard is with regard to private schools kicking kids out. There are a lot of rules that public schools have to follow if they want to kick a kid out and public schools cannot just tell a kid not to come to school anymore. Private schools don’t have to follow any of those rules.
Private schools can force a student to leave based on what is set out in the contract. Most of the established private schools have contracts that essentially say “We can permanently remove any student from the school at any time, for any reason and we do not have to have a hearing or listen to the parents at all and we do not have to refund any portion of the tuition.” Parents usually just sign that contract without thinking about it. There are some schools that set out a procedure or say they will mirror the requirements placed on public schools by the Education Act, or that students can only be ejected for violating the code of conduct. However, most private schools do not have those sorts of terms in their contracts with parents. Instead, the private schools have contracts that allow them complete discretion as to when to remove students. Most private schools can even remove a student who is a victim of bullying or other acts because the victim student “does not fit in” or the aggressor students are more desirable.
Almost all private schools reserve the right not to readmit students for future academic years. That means they can literally say in June that they don’t want to see a student anymore in September, although that can be difficult if the school and parents have signed a new contract earlier in the year.
If parents do not like this possibility, they have to carefully read the contract and make sure they don’t enroll at a school where the contract will allow things to happen that they don’t like.
To be clear, our firm has done lots of cases where parents do not believe their child would be removed from the school. This can be because they went to the school themselves, or they have other children who are at the school or were at the school, or they cannot foresee any situation where a school would not want their child, or even because they have given the school a LOT of money. We have seen lots of cases where parents are absolutely shocked to learn that their child is no longer welcome at a private school and the school is using the terms of the contract against them.
When parents come to see us, we do have some remedies under contract law or human rights law and some other strategies we can try to fix the situation. You can make an appointment by calling 416-446-5847 or emailing us. But, the stronger the contract, the more difficult – AND EXPENSIVE – it will be to try to fix things. So, parents should review the contract carefully – and usually, the Code of Conduct that is incorporated into the contract – to make sure the contract meets their expectations and will not come back to haunt them if things go sour.
Admission Processes And Decisions Are Made By the School
We do understand that parents are often just glad that their child got accepted into a private school as it can be very competitive to get in and that it can be embarrassing when a child is not accepted into a private school. This is particularly true when it seems their child is not “up to snuff” or may have unique needs that are keeping them out. Private schools are private businesses so they can choose who they serve and who they do not – unless the decision violates the Ontario Human Rights Code. However many private schools have complex multi-stage admission processes that allow them to deny admission for reasons that are not related to a student’s traits that would violate the Human Rights Code. The last thing that most parents want to do is start questioning the terms of the contract when the school might just turn around and offer the place to another child.
Still, we see many parents who are not happy with a private school and where that school failed to meet their expectations. Parents do need to carefully read that contract. If what it promises is different from what parents expect, they need to consider whether that school is the right one. It can be difficult to fight what a school is doing, even when kicking a student out, if the school can point to their contract and say it is allowed under the contract, or our contract doesn’t require what the parents expect.
Grades and Academic Discipline
Giving out grades is one of the very few areas where the Ministry of Education does have expectations of private schools, but not in a way that really assists parents.
Private schools are required to have a policy about how they will communicate student achievement to parents. But how private schools communicate student achievement is entirely up to the private school. They can use the Ministry of Education standard report cards, but they do not have to do so. They do not even have to use formal grades.
However, to grant credit towards a course that will lead to an Ontario Secondary School Diploma, private schools must show that their evaluation of students is based on evidence of achievement of the provincial curriculum expectations, is conducted several times during a course and uses several methods for evaluating the student, as well as meeting other criteria.
When it comes to challenging whether an evaluation of a student was fair or accurate, there is no direct way to challenge a private school’s methodology. Many private school contracts specifically state that parents cannot, and will not, do that. Doing so will be, at best, difficult.
Similarly, there are no direct ways to challenge a school’s finding that a private school has acted with academic dishonesty or the method used in the investigation. Where a school makes such a finding and imposes consequences that are consistent with a Code of Conduct that has been incorporated into the contract with the parents, there is little that private school parents can do. If the consequences are severe for the student, they may want to consult with an education lawyer to see if there are any unusual or creative legal solutions available.
One course of action that might be available where the school imposed a grade or discipline that did not take into account a student’s special needs, is to pursue a remedy based on human rights grounds.
Private Schools Usually Do Have To Accommodate Special Needs
Ontario public schools have a refined process for identifying and providing assistance to kids. While, in most circumstances, private schools cannot refuse to admit a student because that student has special needs, they often find other reasons to refuse admission. However, once a student is in a private school, that school has to accommodate that child’s special needs to the point where it will cause undue hardship.
For very small, usually religious-based private schools, that are not-for-profits, and that charge very little for tuition and do not have much in the way of resources, the school may legitimately not be able to provide much accommodation for special needs. But larger schools can, and must, provide accommodation for student’s special needs. People cannot contract out of the Ontario Human Rights Code, so the contract is not a factor in those circumstances. If a private school student has a disability or needs some other type of special treatment or services, the private school cannot refuse to provide those accommodations if it is reasonably able to provide them. Private schools cannot refuse to continue to reach a student because that student has a special need that the school could reasonably accommodate.
While we often hear private schools say “We don’t do things that way”, or “Our standards do not allow us to provide accommodation”, the law says differently. Any parent faced with that sort of attitude should get advice from an education lawyer.
Bullying – It’s Up To Private Schools To Decide What To Do If Anything
One thing that can actually create special needs in a student is repeated bullying. Bullying can cause lots of long-lasting serious problems and is rarely character-building for the victim. It often leads to mental health problems that negatively impact a student’s ability to learn and the benefit of attending a private school. The Education Act and the Ministry of Education place a lot of legal obligations on public schools to prevent and address bullying. Those measures are based on the latest research into bullying and its effects.
There is nothing in the legislation or from the Ministry of Education that requires private schools to do anything about bullying. Again, that is an intentional decision by the government because some parents do not want their children exposed to anti-bullying programs and believe that bullying can be good for kids. They can choose to send their children to schools that allow or encourage bullying behaviour, hazing, peers teaching each other lessons, or other similar behaviour. Other private schools have very strict anti-bullying measures, some of which are modelled on what is required in public schools. Again, to a point, what a private school is legally required to do about bullying is set out in the contract with parents – to a point.
There can be legal consequences for a private school that allows bullying. When a school fails to supervise students properly, it can be liable for damages for mental or physical harm caused to a student. The law does not permit students, or the student’s parents, to consent to the student being seriously harmed. So, a school that says parents agreed to let their child be bullied will not be successful with that position in court. In addition, many types of bullying, anything that is based on disability, race, ethnic origin, family status, sexual orientation, gender or similar traits is a violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code. There can be penalties for institutions when bullying is also bigoted.
Since bullying can have a lot of serious negative repercussions, it can lead to mental or physical disabilities. Once a child has such disabilities, the child’s school is required to accommodate those challenges to the point of undue hardship. When those disabilities were caused by events at school, it is really difficult for a school to get away with saying that fixing a problem that it, in part, caused, will be too hard.
Private Schools Can Hire Whatever Teachers They Like, Regardless of Qualifications
Sometimes children run into trouble at private schools because one or more of their teachers or principals do not have any teaching qualifications and so do not know how to address certain educational situations or issues. Again, the Ontario Government made a policy decision to allow a broader range of qualifications than are required to teach in the public system, so there are no minimum qualifications for private school educators or administrators. In addition, private school teachers do not have to be members of the Ontario College of Teachers – in fact, they can’t be if they don’t have the qualifications to get a teacher’s license. If a private school teacher is not a member of the college of teachers, there is nobody to complain to about the competence or ethics of that private school teacher.
Some private schools do require their teachers to be members of the College of Teachers. But the private schools themselves are not required to use only licensed teachers unless their contract with their parents says so.
Conclusion
To summarize, it is important for parents to read the contract with a private school, which often incorporates a code of conduct and other documents or policies, before signing their child up to attend that school. Even if they feel they have no choice but to send their child to that private school, that contract tells them what they can expect, including the standards (if any) that will be applied to their child’s education. There are no mandatory government standards for how children will be educated in private schools in Ontario, or what the quality of that education will be. Parents can only hold a price school to the contract, and perhaps human rights legislation. If the school does not violate either of those, but the school does not meet the parents’ expectations, there will not be any government intervention and there may be few legal options – even if a child suddenly finds him or herself without a private school to attend.
If you need help with a private school problem or issue, email us, or use the form below to get in touch with an Education Lawyer. There are several at our office and you can reach them by calling 416-446-5847.
For more information about Ontario Education Law, and other education law issues, such as assistance for students with special needs and discipline such as academic sanctions, suspensions and expulsions, check out the Education Law section of this website.
Many thousands of people get family law assistance from this website every day. If you have found this page useful, please share it on your social network using the Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest buttons at the bottom of the page. Please comment on this page using the comments section at the bottom to share your thoughts on the challenges students face at college or university.
Being Mean in Family Court Can Cost You – Potentially Millions
Recently, the Ontario Court of Appeal ordered a spouse to pay his spouse over a million dollars, but not in relation to property division child support, or spousal support. The husband had to pay those amounts in addition to over a million dollars that the Court ordered him to pay to his ex-wife to cover her legal fees. Yes, courts can order one spouse to pay all the costs for the divorce and surrounding litigation. Doing the right things after separation, and in Family Court can create big savings for a separated spouse while denying a “big win” for his or her ex.
There can be a lot of anger and other emotions in separation and divorce. Some separated spouses head to a lawyer’s office, or to Family Court, in the hope that they can force their ex to live in a box under a bridge. Some even expect that if they spend exorbitantly on legal fees for an aggressive lawyer, they can force their wives and children into homelessness. However, if a judge believes that is a spouse’s goal, the efforts can have the opposite of the intended result.
The recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Lakhtakia v. Mehra is not the first time that the Court has ordered one spouse to pay the other spouse’s legal and accountant fees totalling several hundred thousand dollars, even when doing so would cause financial hardship. Ontario Judges, especially Family Court Judges, will make a spouse whom a judge believes has acted unreasonably to pay all of their ex’s expenses in relation to the divorce, child custody or support proceedings. Rule 24(4) of the Family Law Rules authorizes such Orders. The rationale for this rule is, in part, to discourage separated spouses from acting vindictively toward each other, or to reward a spouse for acting appropriately when his or her spouse is not. It is also because these types of behaviours result in more court appearances, both conferences and motions, which not only increase the party’s legal fees and delay the matter but also clog up the court system. Judges feel that parties who do so should provide compensation for wasting everyone’s time.
Spouses who want to make things difficult for their exes often believe that their strategies are innovative and undetectable by the Court. However, judges, all of whom are former lawyers, sit in court every day, often hearing multiple matters every day, and possibly thousands of matters every year. They have seen many, many attempts to create unnecessary difficulties, and negative consequences for all involved.
In Lakhtakia v. Mehra and Knight v. Knight, the Court of Appeal set out many of the more common tactics that Family Court Litigants try use to gain advantage over their exes, but they frequently backfire:
- refusing or trying to hide necessary financial disclosure
- misleading the court, especially in relation to financial matters where objective evidence may disprove the representations
- refusing to negotiate or making unreasonable offers to settle
- either bringing needless motions, or forcing the other party to bring motions to get compliance with existing obligations under the Family Law Rules
- withholding the children or otherwise using the children to get leverage in negotiations
- refusing to pay appropriate child support immediately, even on admitted income – judges see this as an attempt to improperly get leverage by causing financial distress
- otherwise running up the opposing party’s fees and expenses unnecessarily
- refusing to follow court orders
- trying to intimidate the other party through threats of embarrassment, financial difficulties or physical force
Judges who see a separated spouse or parent using these types of tactics will not hesitate to order them to pay all the legal fees and expenses that the other party incurred to rectify the situation.
In the March 2021 changes to the Family Law Legislation, the Federal and Ontario Governments created specific laws to stop separated parties, and especially parents, from engaging in activities that are only designed to harm a former spouse or co-parent. Under section 7.2 of the Divorce Act and section 33.1(2) of the Children’s Law Reform Act, parents have a specific legal duty to protect their children from any conflict related to the separation. Those new laws also require separated spouses and parents to try to resolve matters through negotiation or alternative dispute resolution and avoid Family Court wherever possible. Judges really do expect people to treat each other civilly and try to resolve matters on a reasonable basis after they separate. Serious consequences, including heft orders for the payment of costs to the other party, are the result when someone chooses to be vindictive, or even unreasonable.
Separated spouses and parents who want to get the best out of their former partner in Family Court need to find an excellent Family Law Lawyer and listen to that lawyer’s advice. The road to success does not involve underhanded, coercive, or dishonest tactics. Judges are likely to pick up on those and punish the guilty party. The best strategy to see an ex beaten down, if not destroyed, in Family Court, is to be seen as the reasonable, cooperative, caring party while the other allows the other party to seem mean or vindictive. This does not mean rolling over and giving away everything – judges don’t think that is reasonable either. But it does mean getting some advice from a lawyer about how to appear reasonable while working towards the best possible outcome. That can be a difficult tightrope walk, especially in the winds of emotion that come after separation. The best lawyers will tell you what the realistic outcomes are, and how best to achieve them, which may involve avoiding Family Court altogether, rather than going off on an aggressive attack that is doomed not only to failure but to result in serious repercussions, maybe even an easily avoidable costs award of thousands, or millions of dollars, to help a former partner.
To get the best advice, specific to your situation, you should speak to a family lawyer. Certified Specialist in Family Law, John Schuman, is known for his concern for children in separation and divorce and has won many child custody cases. To contact John call 416-446-5847, email him, or fill out the form below. You can use the same form to comment on this page.
This page only provided a quick mention of many complicated family law topics. You can get a lot more information about Ontario Family Law issues, including a comprehensive explanation of child support, spousal support, property division, and most other common family law issues by downloading this $9.99 Kindle eBook, Kobo eBook, or iBook for your iPad or iPhone or ordering it from Amazon as a paperback. But to understand how the law works precisely in your situation, it is always best to speak to a good Family Law Lawyer.
Many thousands of people get family law assistance from this website every day. If you have found this page useful, please share it on your social network using the Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest buttons at the bottom of the page. Please comment on this page using the comments section at the bottom to share your thoughts on the best ways to resolve matters for your children after a separation.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Parenting (formerly child custody) cases in Family Court are supposed to be what is best for the children and not about the behaviour or concerns of adults, unless it impacts the children. But, the time after separation is a particularly difficult time in which it can seem a former spouse makes all kinds of terrible choices – especially around choosing a new partner. Handing over young children to an apparently untrustworthy former partner can be one of the hardest things for a parent to do. So, what will a Family Court Judge do if a parent repartners with someone with a criminal record for Driving Under the Influence of otherwise.
Without a court order authorizing it, there are very few circumstances when a parent can cut-off another parent from spending time with the kids. Whether someone’s behaviour will impact on what a judge would do is essentially based on whether it would impact the kids.
Section 16 of the Divorce Act (which applies to married parents) and section 24 of the Children’s Law Reform Act (which applies to common law parents) both say that the only consideration that the Courts can take into account when making a parenting order is what is will be in the child’s best interest. The feelings, emotions and “wants” of the parents are not a consideration. And, exactly on point, section 16(5) of the Divorce Act and section 24(5) of the Children’s Law Reform Act both say that the Court shall not take into consideration anyone’s past behaviour unless that conduct impacts their ability to parent the children. So, that means that if a parents new partner, or even a parent, did something stupid, a judge will not even want to hear about it, unless it impacted or will impact the children.
So, a past criminal conviction, for anything, does will not automatically impact a custody case.
However, both section 16(2) of the Divorce Act and section 24(2) of the Children’s Law Reform Act state that the primary consideration is determining what is in a child’s best interests is “the child’s physical, emotional and psychological safety, security and well-being.” This means that if a parent has done anything in the past that has endangered the child’s safety, or has done anything that shows that he or she is likely to do something that would endanger the child, that is something that the judge will definitely consider.
Judges will not consider one parent’s suspicions about the other parent unless those suspicions are backed up by fact. In addition, judges cannot consider any alleged fact unless it is backed up with evidence.
To put that into some context, a DUI conviction would not impact a parenting case unless the children were in the car while the parent was impaired, or the parent had shown a willingness to drive the children while impaired, or there is some additional evidence that the parent has a drinking problem that impairs his or her parenting ability. A conviction for DUI when the parent was not with the children, and without some additional evidence that the parent is impaired by drugs or alcohol while parenting, will not be a basis to restrict a parent’s parenting time or responsibilities (unless, of course, that parent ends up in jail for a period of time.)
The same is even more true when the person with the conviction is not a parent, but a new partner of a parent. That new partner may never been actually parenting the children and may have not responsibilities toward the children. In that case, the DUI conviction would not threaten the children’s safety.
If the concern is that the new partner would get intoxicated and become abusive to the children, the parent raising those concerns will need some evidence that is a real concern. Suspicions that a parent or their parent has a substance abuse problem or an abuse problem are not enough to convince a judge in a parenting case.
To the contrary, a parent who tries to limit a child’s relationship with the other parent over unproven safety concerns risks loosing parenting time or parenting responsibilities. This is because both sections 16(3)(c) and (i) of the Divorce Act and sections 24(3)(c) and (i) of the Children’s Law Reform Act make the ability of one parent to support and cooperate with other parent important considerations in deciding what parenting time and parenting responsibilities each parent should have. A parent who unjustifiably unsupportive and uncooperative with the other parent may lose all parenting time and responsibilities.
Parenting cases that have concerns about the safety and wellbeing of children are some of the most difficult cases in Family Law as they are always high conflict cases and judges are skeptical of parents who want to place restrictions on the other parent, but very concerned that their decision not result in harm to a child. For these cases, it is always critical to at least speak to a top Family Lawyer to make sure that the Court, or arbitrator, makes the Order that is in each child’s best interest.
There must be some evidence that a person’s past behaviour will continue to have negative impact on a child for that past behaviour, even if it was criminal behaviour, before it will impact parenting decisions.
To get the best advice, specific to your situation, you should speak to family lawyer. Certified Specialist in Family Law, John Schuman, is known for his concern for children in separation and divorce and has won many child custody cases. To contact John call 416-446-5847, email him, or fill out the form below. You can use the same form to comment on this page.
This page only provided a quick mention of many complicated family law topics. You can get a lot more information about Ontario Family Law issues, including a comprehensive explanation of parenting cases (parenting time and decision making), child support, spousal support, property division, and most other common family law issues by downloading this $9.99 Kindle eBook, Kobo eBook, or iBook for your iPad or iPhone or ordering it from Amazon as a paperback. But to understand how the law works precisely in your situation, it is always best to speak to a good Family Law Lawyer.
Many thousands of people get family law assistance from this website everyday. If you have found this page useful, please share it on your social network using the Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest buttons at the bottom of the page. Please comment on this page using the comments section at the bottom to share your thoughts on the best ways to resolve matters for your children after a separation.
Often when spouses separate, one spouse leaves with much greater access to money than the other. Then that spouse wants to hold on to his or her money after separation, so doesn’t want to be cooperative, knowing that his or her ex does not have the money to go very far in Family Court, and so will just have to take what is offered and give up what he or she is entitled to receive.
There are a lot of good reasons to avoid going to Family Court. The cost of going through the process is a big one. Family Court costs exponentially more than mediation, arbitration or collaborative practice. But, where one spouse has all the money, he or she may not see any reason to choose a less expensive alternative when his or her ex cannot afford to go to court. Going to Family Court to enforce your rights usually means hiring a lawyer (you have to live in poverty to get Legal Aid, and Legal Aid only covers limited legal issues) and if one spouse cannot afford that, then that spouse may not even be able to make it in front of a judge to get what is fair.
Although, often all it takes is getting in front of a judge who is concerned that only one spouse has money for the other spouse to want to negotiate, go to mediation or otherwise stay out of court. When one spouse has found the money to start court proceedings, his or her ex may worry that there is the money to continue them. Starting court involves a lot of steps, which can make it expensive. So, an uncooperative spouse may choose to be cooperative to avoid spending more on a court case that he or she may lose, and uncooperative spouses may find that lose a lot.
Fortunately, there are some options for people with limited funds to get the legal help they need to go to court:
1. Ask for money from friends and family. This is the most common way people get money for their divorce or to go to Family Court. Often, this money will be a gift, or if it is a loan, then the repayment terms are very favourable.
2. Hire a lawyer on a limited scope retainer. There is a lot more information at the link, but essentially this means hiring a lawyer to give advice only or do one specific task, rather than dealing with every part of the file. The spouse with limited funds then can chose what he or she is going to have the lawyer do and keep control over how much it will cost.
3. Ask a judge for an advance on monies owed. In many cases, particularly when it comes to property division in a divorce, it will be evident right from the beginning that one spouse will owe the other some money in the end. Where the spouse who needs money is the spouse who will be receiving the money, then it is possible to ask for the spouse with the money to pay at least some of it immediately. If the spouse with the money won’t agree to do this, Judges can order the payment on a motion where it is clear that one spouse will owe money. However, this is a motion for “partial summary judgment”, which makes it a little technical, so it is best to speak to a lawyer.
4. Ask a judge for “interim costs and disbursements.” Rule 24(18) of the Family Law Rules says that a judge can order that a party to a Family Court case pay an amount to another party to cover some or all of the expenses for carrying on the case. Judges may do this where it is necessary to “level to playing field” or where one party’s behaviour is so unreasonable it is clear that party will end up paying costs in the end anyway.
5. Get a “Divorce Loan” or a Litigation Loan. These can be expensive loans, but they may be worth it to a spouse who needs to go to court to get anything from their ex.
Also, it is often possible to get support orders, especially child support orders, early on in the case. These are for temporary support and are meant to last until there is a trial or settlement. They may not get the support amount exactly right, but they can provide some necessary cash flow to help with Family Court. With the court making automatic orders for disclosure right at the start of the case, the parties are required to provide at least basic financial disclosure within 30 days of the start of the court proceeding. That allows for at least an estimate of what support will be payable. Only unreasonable Family Court litigants will not settle some or all of the support issues. Judges may punish a party for being unreasonable by having that party pay the legal fees for the other party.
All of the above options that require a court order can be a little tricky and technical. It is best to at least book a consult with a respected family law lawyer to understand what option is best for you and how to pursue it.
Still, there is no denying that court is very expensive. It is the only dispute resolution process that one separated spouse can force the other into. For that reason, and others, some judges struggled between allowing each party the full opportunity to present his or her case the way he or she sees fit, and dealing with matters quickly and potentially leaving the impression that the court was not listening or did not care. Parties with more money can ask for more opportunities to pursue more steps, bring more motions, present more arguments, and generally litigate more aggressively than parties who are trying to do their case on a tight budget. In addition, where judges believe a settlement may be possible, there may be repeated settlement conferences, which one party can use to financially exhaust the other – looking ready to settle but just really trying to multiply the number of court appearances.
Many Family Court cases are wars of economic attrition. The party that can stay in the fight the longest can take advantage of the other party’s need to “get out” to leverage a favourable settlement. Or, the party with money can force on a trial, which will be extremely expensive, knowing the other party cannot afford to have a lawyer assist and so the party with less money either has to settle for a reduced amount, or face the prospect of losing at trial because he or she does not know how to conduct a trial, or the laws and rules that apply.
Of course, none of this matters when spouses want to work toward a fair arrangement after separation. But parties who want that should not be in Family Court in the first place. When things are nasty enough to go to court, each spouse really should speak to a lawyer about the financial situation on both sides and what that means for what strategy will work best for that spouse.
To get the best advice, specific to your situation, you should speak to family lawyer. Certified Specialist in Family Law, John Schuman, is known for his concern for children in separation and divorce and has won many child custody cases. To contact John call 416-446-5847, email him, or fill out the form below. You can use the same form to comment on this page.
This page only provided a quick mention of many complicated family law topics. You can get a lot more information about Ontario Family Law issues, including a comprehensive explanation of child support, spousal support, property division, and most other common family law issues by downloading this $9.99 Kindle eBook, Kobo eBook, or iBook for your iPad or iPhone or ordering it from Amazon as a paperback. But to understand how the law works precisely in your situation, it is always best to speak to a good Family Law Lawyer.
Many thousands of people get family law assistance from this website everyday. If you have found this page useful, please share it on your social network using the Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest buttons at the bottom of the page. Please comment on this page using the comments section at the bottom to share your thoughts on the best ways to resolve matters for your children after a separation.
As the new year approaches, people start mulling over the idea of divorce. Shortly after New Year’s, family lawyers get bombarded with questions about how easy it will be to get a divorce in Ontario and how long will it take. People looking for a “new me” don’t want to have their ex hanging around like an anchor.
It MAY be possible to get divorced in as little as three months, but the spouses must be eligible to get divorced and they must not having any legal barriers to divorce. This post will explain.
Do You Need a Divorce?
Getting a divorce is a key part to moving on after a failed relationship. One of the early episodes of the Ontario Family Law Podcast explains what a divorce is. But to summarize, a divorce order legally ends a marriage and allows either spouse to get a divorce certificate. A divorce certificate is necessary to remarry. If you were married, and you want to marry someone else, you need to get divorced first, otherwise you are committing bigamy – and that’s a crime in Canada. So, section 8(2) of the Marriages Act says that a person why was previously married has to file a divorce certificate, or a court decision annulling the marriage, to get a new marriage licence.
If you were never married, and you were just living common law, you do not need a divorce. You may need to sort out parenting issues, child support and spousal support, and maybe there will be some property claims. However, many of those claims are not automatic if the couple was just living common law.
Are You Allowed to Get Divorced?
Also, not everyone can get divorced in Ontario, or Canada. People cannot just come here to get a divorce. Only a person who has Canada as his or her home can get divorced here.
If the spouses are married, and connected to Ontario, there are a few other basic conditions that they need to meet to get an Ontario divorce.
Another basis on which, a judge can refuse a divorce is if the requesting spouse is not cooperating with the other spouse to obtain a religious divorce. Each spouse must do all that is within their power to allow the other spouse to get a religious divorce. That does not mean that a spouse has to obtain a divorce in a religion that does not allow them. But, it does mean that if the religion allows divorces, each spouse must take the steps necessary to permit the religious divorce. No religious divorce can mean no legal divorce, which means no legal remarriage.
A third requirement for an Ontario Divorce is that the spouses must have lived “separate and apart” for at least one year for the judge to grant a divorce. Yes, it is technically possible to get a divorce on the grounds of adultery or cruelty. But, getting a divorce on the grounds of adultery means including the alleged partner in that adultery as a party in the court proceedings, which makes them much more expensive. Both using both adultery and cruelty as a grounds for divorce requires proving to a judge that the adultery or cruelty actually happened. That means having a trial to prove it. Going through all the steps in court to get to a trial will take longer than a year, so it will end up being faster to get the divorce on the grounds of separation of more than a year as long as the parties agree they have been separated for at least a year.
Being separated does not mean living in different residences. It means that the spouses must have stopped living together as spouses. Often, the marriage is over long before the parties are able to move into new, separate homes. Sometimes people continue to live in the same home for financial reasons. Sometimes, they do it for the kids. The reason does not matter, as long as they are not living together to continue the marriage and anyone looking in would say “that marriage is over.” There is more about that in the video and audio podcast episode on How to Get a Legal Separation in Ontario covers his in more detail.
If the spouses agree on the facts that show they were separated more than a year ago, or one of them proves it to a judge, then the spouses can be divorced.
“Fake News” About Things That Delay Getting Divorced\
It is important to note that a married spouses DOES NOT have to wait a year to start a court application, to get the other types of orders that usually go with a divorce (and are legally called corollary relief.) If a spouse is not get any support, or there are urgent parenting matters, or important property matters that cannot wait, a spouse can start a divorce application in court less than a year after separation. (Note, check out this video to determine whether going to family court is a good idea.) The court will deal with immediate issues on a temporary basis until the divorce can be granted. However, under the new Family Laws that came into effect in March 2021, parties must either try to resolve matters outside of court through negotiation, mediation, arbitration or collaborative practice, or they will have explain to the judge why using one of those quicker, and often better, alternatives was not possible.
Also, many separated spouses are pleased to hear that if the other issues are dragging on, they can get their divorce, and get remarried, before everything else is resolved. This is called “severing the divorce” and judges can do that if all the other requirements that I just described are fulfilled.
The Fastest Ways to Get Divorced in Ontario
The easiest and quickest way to get a divorce is to proceed to get an uncontested divorce. To proceed this way, both spouses must have resolved all the other issues related to the divorce, ( parenting, spousal support, property division, etc), or they must not care about them. To get a divorce, parents after to have worked out child support because the JUDGE will care about child support.)
To get an uncontested divorce, one spouse starts a divorce proceeding at their local Superior Court of Justice, usually asking for only a divorce – otherwise the court process will be more complicated. Then the spouse starting the divorce, has to have the other spouse served with the court documents asking for the divorce. However, Rule 6(4.1) of the Family Law Rules prohibits on one spouse from serving the other spouse – someone else has to do it, often a process server. Then the spouse asking for the divorce has to file an affidavit of service with the court.
What makes this process the easiest is that the “other spouse” doesn’t have to anything – and shouldn’t do anything. He or she just ignores the request for 30 days. (The time is longer if the other spouse is outside Canada or the United States, but the process is also more complicated.)
If the other spouse ignores the divorce for 30 days, the spouse who wants the divorce then files an affidavit for divorce with the court office, along with a draft divorce order. Since no one is opposing the divorce, the court documents get put in the pile of divorces that are going to a judge to review. It usually takes two to three months, depending on how busy the judges are at that court house, for the judge to review and approve or deny the divorce. The Court office will mail out the Divorce Order, or the judges reasons for refusing it to the parties. To get remarried, a spouse has to go back to the court office and get a Certificate of Divorce. The Superior Court charges for all of these steps.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT GETTING DIVORED AFFECTS THE SPOUSES LEGAL RIGHTS. Among other issues, it can affect the ability to claim spousal support, divide property, and seek other relief. It also restricts where the spouses can deal with any future issues – they may be restricted the court in the location where they got the divorce. Consequently, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT to speak to a lawyer before asking for a divorce or ignoring a spouse’s request for a divorce.
To get the best advice, specific to your situation, you should speak to family lawyer. Certified Specialist in Family Law, John Schuman, is known for his concern for children in separation and divorce and has won many child custody cases. To contact John call 416-446-5847, email him, or fill out the form below. You can use the same form to comment on this page.
At the time of this article, Ontario’s education workers are on strike and Ontario’s public schools are closed to students. It is important to note that teachers (licensed teachers) are not on strike and are not doing anything to close the schools. Ontario’s school board’s have decided that they cannot allow students into the physical school buildings without the education workers present. This is because educations workers perform many essential tasks in schools. Some are custodians, who keep the buildings clean, heated and maintained. Others are educational assistants and child and youth workers who provide critical assistance to students with special needs that allow those students to attend schools. The presence of early childhood educators (ECEs) was factored into the determination of how large kindergarten classes can be, so the size of some classes is too large for a teacher alone to manage safely. Other workers provided supervision of students, prevent bullying, or tend to other task that are necessary for schools to operate.
With these (non-teacher) education workers providing services that are so critical to the functioning of the education system that the Ontario Government is trying to use the Notwithstanding Clause to take away their collective bargaining rights, people are asking about what about children’s right to an education in Ontario?
Is there a right to an education in Ontario?
Children in Ontario do not have an absolute right to an education, or to any particular standard of education. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not give an explicit right to education. Neither does the Ontario Human Rights Code. Article 28 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child creates a right to a primary education, but does not specify what exactly that means or how it will be delivered. Canada ratified that convention, but the Canadian Constitution gives power over education to the provinces. The Ontario Government could make education a right, but has chosen not to do so. This is because there are a lot of differences of opinions of what a child’s education should look like.
Why hasn’t the Government of Ontario done more to make education a right?
There is no universal agreement over what a right to an education would look like, which means creating such a right would be difficult or impossible because of the controversy it would create. Some people want their kids to go to religious schools, other want their children to go to schools that teach particularly values or emphasize particular subjects, other parents want to homeschool their children, others want schools that are free to teach kids as they see fit without government interference. Consequently there are no absolute standards for an education or an absolute requirement to follow a particular curriculum. As illustrated by how private schools work in Ontario, there is no minimum standard for a school education in Ontario. It is only or students to get an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD), which is coveted around the world, that their school does need to meet some curriculum and evaluation requirements. But there are private high schools that do not grant OSSDs. Over the pandemic, and with the introduction of online high school courses, the Ontario Government has been clear that it going to school does not necessarily require going into a school building.
Are Child Legally Required to Go to School?
While there is no right to an education, section 21 of the Education Act creates a legal requirement that children over the age of six attend school full-time or be registered for home schooling by parents who agree to take on the task of providing an education (although no particular education) themselves. Education is more of a responsibility for students than a right. However, there is a lot of flexibility as to how students can receive their education – they can get it in a school, on-line, or at home.
Students Do Have Rights in School – That Is Part of the Current Problem
There are some rights for students in the public education system. When any school or school board provides education to students, it is legally required to give every student, to the extent possible, equal access to the curriculum and the other services provided by the school. It must not discriminate and give some students preferential access or educational opportunities over other students. In other words, schools cannot discriminate when providing an education to students. Each student has an absolute right to have the same access to school services as other students.
That means that schools cannot decide to stop providing special education services due to a labour disruption. They cannot say that accommodations for students with disabilities will be withdrawn until the unions and the government reach an agreement. If you look carefully at the labour actions that teachers took during their work-to-rule, they were not taking away services that are necessary for students with special needs to succeed in school. The labour actions have the same negative impact on all students, those with special needs and those without. Students continue to be given equal access to public education services in Ontario.
Since so many education workers provide the essential services that students with special needs require just to go to school, they cannot do much short of striking to apply pressure during contract negotiations. If they were to withdraw or reduce services, they would disproportionately affect students with disabilities, or who otherwise have special needs, and that would be discriminatory and a violation of the children’s rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Ontario’s Human Rights Code.
It may be that as a result of changes in the Ontario Government’s policy, or funding priorities, there are fewer, or poorer, special education services available to students with special needs – be they a disability, or economic disadvantage, or being from a member of a group that has been historically disadvantaged or unfairly treated. If these changes mean that students with special needs are not allowed the same ability to attend school and receive the education that they need to fulfill their potential, then they will be discriminated against. There will be human rights cases against schools, school boards and the Ontario Government to ensure those disadvantaged children are as able to access the Ontario Curriculum and other aspects of the education system as every other child.
The labour disruptions should not affect anti-bullying programs either. This is because bullying puts students at a disadvantage in the education system. It can impair the victim’s ability to learn. It can threaten their security while they are at a place that the government requires them to be. Bullying can truly be discrimination that gets in the way of an education. Bullying also impairs a child’s development. The Ontario College of Teachers requires its members to promote the healthy development of students. That is why during their labour talks, teachers did not take actions that promote, encourage or allow bullying to grow within schools. Education workers are not government by the Ontario College of Teachers, but they still should not promote bullying as part of a labour action. Whenever educators do not do enough to combat bullying, there’s a good chance that will result in a violation the human rights of students in their schools.
What Could the Strike Mean for Students and Their Education?
Ontario Public Schools do have some stringent standards that they have to meet, which has made Ontario’s public schools amongst the best in the world. Only the Scandinavian Countries consistently perform better. Those standards are the result of the strict regulation, guidance, required educational practices, research, and resources that the Ontario Government puts into the public education system. On behalf of the people of Ontario, the Ontario Government creates the standards that Ontario students have come to expect from the public education. In fact, it is those standards that the education workers’ union (and the teacher’s union before them) are saying they are fighting to protect. The people of Ontario have expectations for the quality of education found in public schools and, presumably, if any Government does not meet those expectation, it will be voted out.
These government education standards may mean that some remedial steps must be taken to make sure that students have been given the necessary education, particularly for high school. So, there may be a need to add school days into the summer to so that students attend for the expected number of hours to get their high school credits. Mandatory, EQAO testing, may be rescheduled until after the labour disruption concludes. Extracurricular programs may be replaced by additional instruction on core subjects to make sure students cover the required material. Public schools may have to put other measures in place to make sure the education delivered to public school students meets the required standards.
Conclusion
The constitution and human rights law in Ontario do not give students a right to an education, but it does set requirements for how education is provided to Ontario Students. If your child is being denied the same opportunity to succeed in school that every other student has, then it is time to speak to an Education Lawyer about how to protect your child and make sure he or she gets the education every Ontarian deserves. If you need help with that, email us, or use the form below to get in touch with an Education Lawyer. There are several at our office and you can reach them by calling 416-446-5847.
For more information about Ontario Education Law, and other education law issues, such as assistance for students with special needs and discipline such as academic sanctions, suspensions and expulsions, check out the Education Law section of this website.
Many thousands of people get family law assistance from this website every day. If you have found this page useful, please share it on your social network using the Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest buttons at the bottom of the page. Please comment on this page using the comments section at the bottom to share your thoughts on the challenges students face at college or university.
Children’s aid societies are not like the police in that they do not go out patrolling looking for child abuse and neglect. Even if they did, that would not help as most cases of child abuse and neglect happen in private – where people can’t see them and leaving only, sometimes vague indications of what had occurred that could NOT picked up by people unless they have some first-hand knowledge of the kids involved. For that reason, children’s aid societies rely on people bringing their suspicions forward. Most commonly, reports to children’s aid societies are not first had accounts of witnessing horrific child abuse. Most often, it is a series of reports that something strange is going on, that when put together lead a children aid society to “check things out” and only then leaned how much the children have been suffering.
Section 125 of the Child Youth and Family Services Act requires everyone who has a professional duty toward children to report suspicions of child abuse or neglect that fall into several categories. The duty covers everyone who works with and around children, from lifeguards and sports coaches, to first responders, to medical professionals, to teachers, to social workers, to babysitters and daycare providers. If the job involves working with or around children, then there is a duty to report child abuse. The exception is lawyers – lawyers don’t have to report child abuse if they learn about it in the context of solicitor client privilege so they can give legal advice to the person who mentioned it. But, lawyers can still report child abuse in that context if they have made it clear in their retainer agreement with the client that they will.
The law requires professionals working with or around children to make a report directly to the children’s aid society if they become aware of several types of child abuse or neglect. They cannot have someone else report on their behalf. It is not sufficient for a professional to report the suspicions to a supervisor, or assume that a co-worker has made the report. The law requires each professional who has reasonable suspicions of child abuse or neglect to call the Children’s aid Society him or herself. It a professional reports concerns to a supervisor, then that supervisor then also has a duty to report.
The types of abuse and neglect that professionals should look out for are set out at section 125 in the Child Youth and Family Services Act. The types of concerns are quite broad and include:
1.Physical abuse (hitting, slapping, burning, etc.) – even if it may be part of a course of discipline as what is permissible under criminal law may not be for child protection law.
2.Physical harm caused by a caregiver’s failure to properly care for or supervise a child.
3.Physical harm caused by a pattern of neglect.
4.Any risk that a child may suffer those types of physical harm in the future.
5.Any sexual abuse or exploitation of a child or any act or omission that may put a child at risk of being sexually molested or exploited
6.Any failure of a caregiver to prevent a child from being sexually abused or exploited.
7.A child has been subjected to child sex trafficking
8.There is a risk that the child will be sexually abused or exploited.
9.Whenever a person with care of a child refuses, or fails, to get adequate medical treatment for that child.
10.The child is at risk of serious emotional harm that is characterized by: anxiety, depression, withdrawal, self-destructive behaviour or delayed development. Note that it is not any type of emotional harm, but just emotional harm that is so serious it causes on of those five types of long term problems. One of the most common causes for this type of emotional harm is when a child is exposed to adult conflict or domestic violence.
11.The refusal of a caregiver to get assistance for a child who is at risk of the type of serious emotional harm I just describe.
12.The child suffers a mental, emotional or developmental condition and the care giver refuses to get assistance for the child.
13.A child is abandoned.
14.A child less than 12 years old has killed or seriously injured another person or done serious damage to property and the person looking after the child fails to get services or treatment to prevent a recurrence of that behaviour, or encourages that behaviour.
If a professional working with children, is not sure whether to make a report, then he or she should report and let the “experts in child abuse and neglect” at the Children’s Aid Society decide whether an investigation is warranted. Alternatively, it is possible to make an anonymous phone call to the children’s aid society and ask if it is necessary to make report based on what the caller knows.
Professionals do not have to be certain that child abuse or neglect is occurring to have a duty to report to the local children’s aid society. They only have to have reasonable grounds to have a concern. That concern is not even that abuse or neglect is actually occurring. All the concern has to be is that a child is at risk of suffering abuse or neglect as described above. If any professional who assists children has reasonable grounds to believe that a child is at risk of abuse or neglect, then that professional has a duty to report.
To give an example, a professional does not need to see suspicious bruises to have a duty to report. All that is necessary is a parent, or other caregiver, threatening to hit a child to trigger that duty to report.
In addition, reporting once is not sufficient if the professional becomes aware of additional incidents of child abuse or neglect after the first report. Section 125(2) of the Child Youth and Family Services Act says that a professional has a duty to make a further report if the professional becomes aware of further abuse or neglect – it is not sufficient to just rely on the first report. A professional must make a report each time they have a new suspicion that a child has been abused or neglected.
Professionals do not have to give their names when they make a report to a children’s aid society. Anonymous reports are fine and they do fulfill the duty to report suspicions of child abuse or neglect under the Child and Family Services Act. Sometimes it can be better to report anonymously because a professional does not want a parent or other caregiver to avoid calling for help in the future.
When a professional reports anonymously, it is important to keep a record of the report to avoid getting in trouble as there is the possibility of being prosecuted for failing to report. When making an anonymous report, a professional should ask the call-taker at the children’s aid society for his or her name or another way to identify and record that the call was made. Then the professional should keep the notes of the call as proof it was made, or complete an incident report for his or her employer for the same purpose.
Professionals often worry that reporting to a children’s aid society may be a breach of confidentiality or privacy rules. That is not the case. Section 125(1) of the Child Youth and Family Services Act says that the duty to report exists even if the information provided is confidential or privileged. That specific law overrides other privacy legislation or confidentiality rules.
Since so many education workers provide the essential services that students with special needs require just to go to school, they cannot do much short of striking to apply pressure during contract negotiations. If they were to withdraw or reduce services, they would disproportionately affect students with disabilities, or who otherwise have special needs, and that would be discriminatory and a violation of the children’s rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Ontario’s Human Rights Code.
It may be that as a result of changes in the Ontario Government’s policy, or funding priorities, there are fewer, or poorer, special education services available to students with special needs – be they a disability, or economic disadvantage, or being from a member of a group that has been historically disadvantaged or unfairly treated. If these changes mean that students with special needs are not allowed the same ability to attend school and receive the education that they need to fulfill their potential, then they will be discriminated against. There will be human rights cases against schools, school boards and the Ontario Government to ensure those disadvantaged children are as able to access the Ontario Curriculum and other aspects of the education system as every other child.
The labour disruptions should not affect anti-bullying programs either. This is because bullying puts students at a disadvantage in the education system. It can impair the victim’s ability to learn. It can threaten their security while they are at a place that the government requires them to be. Bullying can truly be discrimination that gets in the way of an education. Bullying also impairs a child’s development. The Ontario College of Teachers requires its members to promote the healthy development of students. That is why during their labour talks, teachers did not take actions that promote, encourage or allow bullying to grow within schools. Education workers are not government by the Ontario College of Teachers, but they still should not promote bullying as part of a labour action. Whenever educators do not do enough to combat bullying, there’s a good chance that will result in a violation the human rights of students in their schools.
What Could the Strike Mean for Students and Their Education?
Ontario Public Schools do have some stringent standards that they have to meet, which has made Ontario’s public schools amongst the best in the world. Only the Scandinavian Countries consistently perform better. Those standards are the result of the strict regulation, guidance, required educational practices, research, and resources that the Ontario Government puts into the public education system. On behalf of the people of Ontario, the Ontario Government creates the standards that Ontario students have come to expect from the public education. In fact, it is those standards that the education workers’ union (and the teacher’s union before them) are saying they are fighting to protect. The people of Ontario have expectations for the quality of education found in public schools and, presumably, if any Government does not meet those expectation, it will be voted out.
These government education standards may mean that some remedial steps must be taken to make sure that students have been given the necessary education, particularly for high school. So, there may be a need to add school days into the summer to so that students attend for the expected number of hours to get their high school credits. Mandatory, EQAO testing, may be rescheduled until after the labour disruption concludes. Extracurricular programs may be replaced by additional instruction on core subjects to make sure students cover the required material. Public schools may have to put other measures in place to make sure the education delivered to public school students meets the required standards.
Conclusion
The constitution and human rights law in Ontario do not give students a right to an education, but it does set requirements for how education is provided to Ontario Students. If your child is being denied the same opportunity to succeed in school that every other student has, then it is time to speak to an Education Lawyer about how to protect your child and make sure he or she gets the education every Ontarian deserves. If you need help with that, email us, or use the form below to get in touch with an Education Lawyer. There are several at our office and you can reach them by calling 416-446-5847.
For more information about Ontario Education Law, and other education law issues, such as assistance for students with special needs and discipline such as academic sanctions, suspensions and expulsions, check out the Education Law section of this website.
Many thousands of people get family law assistance from this website every day. If you have found this page useful, please share it on your social network using the Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest buttons at the bottom of the page. Please comment on this page using the comments section at the bottom to share your thoughts on the challenges students face at college or university.
Contact Us
To contact John Schuman, Certified Specialist in Family Law, call 647-342-6775, email him at john@schumanlaw.ca, or use the form on this page.