Fast Facts
An illusory "obligation"
Ontario's constitutional "obligation" to fund Roman Catholic separate schools is largely illusory, as it can be removed very quickly or can even be ignored. Quebec, Newfoundland, and Manitoba all removed or ignored very similar constitutional "obligations" before moving to a single public school system for each official language (English and French). The Ontario Government could easily follow their example. See our Denominational rights page for more information.
Discriminatory admissions
Ontario's publicly funded Catholic school boards have an absolute right to refuse admission to non-Catholic children until grade 9, when "open access" (non-discriminatory admission) is supposed to apply. At the elementary level (before grade 9), non-Catholic children are typically admitted to publicly funded Catholic schools only in declining enrolment areas, where the addition of a few warm, grant generating children can boost the enrolment of an under enrolled school to a more cost effective level, prevent split grades, or prevent a school closing. In these cases, they are effectively transferring their own declining enrolment problems onto their coterminous public board.
Discriminatory hiring practices
Ontario's publicly funded Catholic school boards have an absolute right to refuse employment to non-Catholic teachers at all grade levels. Fully one third of Ontario's publicly funded teaching positions, those in the separate system, are essentially closed to two thirds of the population, the non-Catholics. Non-Catholic teachers are as rare as Sasquatches in Catholic school boards and where you can find one, they are ineligible for permanent positions, advancement, or promotion. Any we have heard from are desperate to find a permanent position with a public school board and look forward to the elimination of the discriminatory Catholic system.
All Ontarians pay for Catholic separate schools
All Ontarians bear the same tax burden, based on their income, not their faith, but only those of the Catholic faith are guaranteed a publicly funded school choice. School support designations on municipal property assessments have no effect on total school board funding, which is determined solely by enrolment and other documented needs.
Do you believe in a single public school system, but your children are currently enrolled in a Catholic separate school? Change your school support designation back to public school to indicate your support for one school system. Your Catholic school board will continue to receive the same funding based on its actual enrolment.
Do you believe in a single public school system, but your children are currently enrolled in a Catholic separate school? Change your school support designation back to public school to indicate your support for one school system. Your Catholic school board will continue to receive the same funding based on its actual enrolment.
Sectarian religious instruction in Catholic schools is not mandatory
All of the literature and information you are likely to receive from Ontario's Catholic school boards will indicate that Catholic religious instruction is a mandatory subject in Ontario's publicly funded Catholic schools. The truth, however, is that exemptions to this requirement are available on written application to the Board. See section 42 (11) - (14) of the Education Act for details and check with your local Catholic school board for their exact procedures for obtaining an exemption. Oh ... and tell all your friends. They won't hear about this exemption from the Catholic school boards.
Racial and ethnic segregation
Religious segregation introduces some degree of racial and ethnic segregation wherever it occurs. Religious segregation in the Ontario school system is no exception. The simple fact is, different racial and ethnic groups adhere to different faiths at different rates.
Of the dozen or so visible minorities tracked by the Census, only two, Latin Americans and Filipinos, are more likely to be Catholic than non-Catholic (and they are overwhelmingly Catholic). The rest are more likely to be non-Catholic. What this means in Ontario is that in terms of race and ethnicity, Catholic schools are not as diverse as public schools and what diversity they have is a different diversity. The differences can be stark -- particularly in areas of high immigration such as Toronto.
What problems can we expect in the future due to racial and ethnic segregation caused by the religious segregation in our schools? What problems are occuring now? Whatever they are, we'd stand a better chance of avoiding them under one school system -- where the religious, racial, and ethnic makeup of our schools would accurately reflect the diversity of the communities from which they draw their students. Tolerance is best fostered by respectful and mutually enriching engagement, not isolation and physically separate development.
Of the dozen or so visible minorities tracked by the Census, only two, Latin Americans and Filipinos, are more likely to be Catholic than non-Catholic (and they are overwhelmingly Catholic). The rest are more likely to be non-Catholic. What this means in Ontario is that in terms of race and ethnicity, Catholic schools are not as diverse as public schools and what diversity they have is a different diversity. The differences can be stark -- particularly in areas of high immigration such as Toronto.
What problems can we expect in the future due to racial and ethnic segregation caused by the religious segregation in our schools? What problems are occuring now? Whatever they are, we'd stand a better chance of avoiding them under one school system -- where the religious, racial, and ethnic makeup of our schools would accurately reflect the diversity of the communities from which they draw their students. Tolerance is best fostered by respectful and mutually enriching engagement, not isolation and physically separate development.
Non-Catholic children in Catholic schools
The numbers are hard to come by (for good reason, as they seriously undermine Catholic school board "diversity" claims), but two published newspaper articles were quite revealing in this regard. Enrolment at the Ottawa Catholic School Board is 6% non-Catholic and enrolment at the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board is 7% non-Catholic, according to figures published in the Ottawa Citizen and Hamilton Spectator respectively. These numbers correlate poorly with the Ontario population as a whole, where 66% are non-Catholic. It is a certainty that these numbers are also skewed heavily to the secondary school level (grade 9 and up), where "open access" (non-discriminatory admission) is supposed to apply. Catholic elementary schools are almost exclusively Catholic -- except in areas of pronounced declining enrolment.
Ontario Catholic population (2001 Census)
Catholic and non-Catholic populations by proportion in Ontario and in the three provinces that have already eliminated public funding for denominational separate schools. All figures are from the 2001 Census, the last for which religious data are available.
