Who holds power over Ontario schools.

The Ministry placed the board under supervision following a PwC investigation into its finances. The investigation's scope expressly did not include a determination of serious financial mismanagement; it identified instances of policy non-compliance and compensation-framework issues alongside a structural deficit. This was the first of the 2025–26 takeovers.

The Ministry cited growing in-year deficits and depleted reserves at Canada's largest school board. A PwC investigation attributed the deficits to structural causes — pandemic-era enrolment decline, staffing pressures, and school-renewal costs — and found the board's executive compensation to be a "bona fide restructuring," i.e. it did not find financial misconduct.

The Ministry cited a rising in-year deficit and a risk of default in coming years, together with the absence of an approved financial recovery plan. As a denominational board, its supervision has also raised questions about constitutionally protected Catholic-education governance.

The Ministry cited in-year deficits dating to 2021–22, reserves it described as depleted, and a recovery approach that relied on proceeds from asset sales. A PwC investigation reviewed the board's finances and compliance.

The Ministry cited a deteriorating financial position and a risk the board would be unable to meet its obligations. A government investigation pointed to an accumulated deficit tied largely to the board's practice of fully funding long-term disability costs. As a denominational board, its supervision has also raised Catholic-education governance questions.

Unlike the financial takeovers, Near North was placed under supervision over governance — the Ministry cited non-compliance with a series of binding ministerial directions. The board was operating with a surplus at the time, and the order followed disputes including a delayed Parry Sound school project. It was the first supervision exercised under the broadened powers of Bill 33 (2025).

The Ministry cited five consecutive years of deficit and governance concerns; the order halted a planned mid-year reduction of classroom teachers. The board chair publicly characterised the takeover as a "smokescreen" for chronic underfunding. This 2026 financial order is separate from Peel's earlier 2020–2023 supervision over anti-Black racism, which was lifted in January 2023.

The Ministry cited depleted reserves, the absence of a realistic financial recovery plan, and governance dysfunction. York Catholic was the eighth board placed under provincial supervision since 2025.