School safety
The short version
Elopement is one of the most serious safety risks facing an autistic student, and a location device is one of the very few things a parent can supply directly. Families reasonably expect a clear rule about whether their child can wear one.
There is not one. Ontario has no province-wide policy on parent-supplied GPS or wearable location devices in schools, and boards do not consistently publish their own. The result is that two children in neighbouring boards, with identical needs, can get opposite answers.
We are not going to fill that gap with a board-by-board table we cannot source. What we can do is explain the objection you are most likely to meet, and how to put the request so that it can be answered properly.
The real objection
When a school says no on privacy grounds, the concern is rarely that you would know where your child is. It is that many consumer trackers can also transmit or record sound — and a device doing that in a classroom captures staff and other children who have not consented to being recorded.
School boards are governed by the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and that is the frame a board is reasoning within when it refuses. Understanding this changes the conversation, because a device with audio disabled raises a materially narrower question than one without.
So lead with the mitigation rather than waiting for the objection. A request that already answers the privacy concern is much harder to refuse on privacy grounds.
How to ask
Step 1
Email the request rather than raising it at pickup. Name the safety need, reference any documented elopement history, and ask that the device be addressed in the safety plan within the Individual Education Plan.
Step 2
Audio capability disabled, device worn under clothing, data visible only to you, no recording function in use during the school day. This narrows the objection before it is raised.
Step 3
Request the specific board policy relied on. A refusal that cannot cite a written policy is a different conversation from one that can, and you need to know which you are having.
Step 4
Bring the safety documentation rather than restating the request. This is the level at which board-wide policy, as opposed to one principal’s judgement, is actually set.
Step 5
Trustees govern board policy. Where several families raise the same request, it stops being one child’s accommodation and becomes a policy question.
Being straight with you
We cannot tell you what your board’s policy says, because most boards do not publish one and we have not seen them. Anyone presenting a definitive Ontario-wide answer on this is guessing.
We have prepared a freedom-of-information request asking boards for their written policy on parent-supplied location devices, and for the number of students placed on a modified or reduced school day. When responses arrive they will be published.
SOURCE
Government of Ontario
Governs the privacy obligations of Ontario district school boards, and is the statutory backdrop to board decisions about recording devices on school property.
SOURCE
Ontario Human Rights Commission
Sets out the duty to accommodate students with disabilities to the point of undue hardship.
SOURCE
End The Wait Ontario • 2026-08-08
We could not locate a province-wide policy, or consistently published board-level policies. A freedom-of-information request for board policies has been prepared.
How many children are on the Ontario autism waitlist in 2026?
As of March 4, 2026, 89,799 children are registered with the Ontario Autism Program. However, only 20,633 (23%) have an active Core Funding Agreement. This represents approximately 290% growth in registrations since 2019, with 69,166 children still waiting for essential funding.
Source: OAC FOI Mar 2026, FAO Report 2024 · Verify Link
Is the Ontario Autism Program underfunded?
Yes. The Financial Accountability Office (FAO) determined that $1.35 billion annually is needed to serve all registered children at 2018-19 service levels. The 2026-27 Ontario Budget allocated $965 million, leaving an estimated $385M+ annual shortfall. This gap is the primary driver of the perpetual 89,799+ child waitlist.
Source: Financial Accountability Office of Ontario [FAO] · Verify Link
Written by Spencer Carroll
Founder & Autism Advocate
Evidence on this page
Key claims are paired with their source, evidence tier, and verification date so readers can inspect the public record directly.
Under the Ontario Education Act, every student with special needs is entitled to an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and access to an Identification, Placement and Review Committee (IPRC)
89,799
children are registered in the Ontario Autism Program
1 in 50
According to the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth, about 1 in 50 children and youth aged 1 to 17 in Canada had an autism diagnosis
According to the FAO (2020 report), OAP funding covers less than one-third of estimated need at 2018-19 service levels
$965M
Ontario allocated $965M to the Ontario Autism Program in 2026-27
23%
Only 20,633 children have active funding agreements (23%) — less than one in four