Can My Autistic Child Wear a GPS Tracker at School in Ontario?

Elopement is one of the most serious safety risks facing autistic students, and a location device is one of the few tools a parent can supply directly. There is no Ontario-wide rule on them.

Boards are governed by the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and privacy is the ground on which refusals are usually framed. The specific concern is rarely the location function. It is that many consumer trackers can also transmit or record audio, which would capture staff and other students who have not consented.

That distinction matters, because it points at the argument most likely to succeed: a device with audio disabled raises a materially narrower privacy question than one without.

Escalate in order: principal, then special education superintendent, then your trustee. Bring the safety documentation each time rather than restating the request.

Families sometimes find that a request carries more weight when several families raise it together, because it moves the question from one child’s accommodation to board policy.

Where a refusal leaves a disability-related safety need unaddressed, it may raise a duty-to-accommodate question under the Ontario Human Rights Code. That is a legal question and worth advice specific to your situation.