Special-education audit · Ontario · 2019–2025
Across 74 pages, three school boards, hundreds of student files, and an anonymous survey of every teacher in the sample, Auditor General Shelley Spence concludes that Ontario cannot show its special-education system works for the children inside it.
Placement decisions with no written rationale
Audit § 4.2.3
IEP learning goals without measurable criteria
Audit § 4.3.1 · every audited board
Spec-ed share of suspensions vs 16% of enrolment
Audit § 4.6.2
Board overspend on special ed, 2023–24
Audit § 4.7.2 · 46 of 72 boards
Special education programs and services did not consistently fulfill the requirements of students with special education needs.
At a glance · Eight numbers
Every figure below is reproduced from the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario, Special Report on Special Education Needs (May 12, 2026).
90%+
IEPs lack measurable goals
At every board, at least 9 in 10 IEP annual learning goals had no measurable criteria.
Audit § 4.3.1
38–95%
No parent IEP consultation evidence
Ranged from 38% at TCDSB to 67% at PDSB to 95% at UCDSB.
Audit § 4.3.1
18%
EA absence rate
Nearly one in five school days. 49–72% of those absences went unfilled.
Audit § 4.4.1
39%
Teachers observed undocumented exclusions
Of those, 33% saw it happen more than five times in the school year.
Audit § 4.6.1
34%
Waiting > 1 year for assessment
At TCDSB and PDSB: 499 and 248 students respectively beyond the one-year threshold.
Audit § 4.2.4
59%
Teachers with minimal special-ed training
Regular-classroom and special-education teachers alike, including on IEPs.
Audit § 4.5
43%
Spec-ed students suspended
From only 16% of total enrolment, over-representation of nearly 3×.
Audit § 4.6.2
$398M
Total board overspend, 2023–24
Boards collectively spent $397.9M more than the Ministry funded.
Audit § 4.7.2
Finding § 4.1 · Parent navigation
The Education Act requires each board to provide a parent guide following an IPRC referral. The Auditor ran the three boards’ guides through readability tools and found them written at reading levels ranging from Grade 12, graduate studies (TCDSB), post-secondary year 1, graduate studies (PDSB), and Grade 11, post-secondary year 2 (UCDSB). Only PDSB published its guide in multiple languages.
The IEP consultation process is filled with jargon. Navigating the special education system is challenging, even for those of us with specialized knowledge of how it works.
Teacher response · OAG anonymous survey · 2025
Finding § 4.2 · How students get identified
The Ministry does not provide guidance on when assessments are required, what documentation supports an identification, or how to comprehensively define exceptionalities. It permits each board to develop its own.
To identify a developmental disability, PDSB requires a cognitive score below the 0.1st percentile; TCDSB sets the threshold at the 1st percentile. The same child could be identified at one board and not the other.
The Ministry’s own categories of exceptionality do not reflect contemporary diagnoses. FASD, ADHD, brain injury, depression, and bipolar disorder are not explicitly listed in any category, forcing IPRCs to map novel diagnoses into pre-1980s categories. Autism is classified as a communicational exceptionality even though many autistic students may better align with behavioural or developmental.
Threshold gap · Developmental disability identification
OAG audit § 4.2.1.
Finding § 4.2.4 · Assessment waitlists
At the audit date, 34% of students at TCDSB and PDSB who needed an assessment had been waiting more than a year, 499 students at TCDSB and 248 at PDSB. The Auditor flagged this same problem in 2017. Nothing changed.
Each specialist runs their own waitlist for an assigned cluster of schools, with no consolidation across the board. At TCDSB, one specialist had 64 outstanding speech-language assessments; another had two. None of the three boards prioritizes assessments based on a complete consolidated waitlist.
The equity issue: a private psychological assessment in Ontario costs $2,500–$4,500, and over $5,000 when autism and ADHD screening are added. Boards review private assessments quickly, there are no waitlists for review. So children whose families can pay receive placements and supports sooner than children whose families cannot.
Students on assessment waitlists · audit-date snapshot
| Amount | Description | Beneficiary | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,478 | TCDSB · Toronto Catholic, psych 661 / speech-language 817 | TCDSB student queue | Open |
| 733 | PDSB · Peel, psych high-priority only (371*) / speech-language 696 | PDSB student queue | Open |
| 116 | UCDSB · Upper Canada, psych 21 / speech-language 95 | UCDSB student queue | Open |
Finding § 4.3 · Individual Education Plans
At every board, at least 90% of annual learning goals lacked measurable criteria. Modified expectations lacked measurable criteria at least 94% of the time. Alternative expectations lacked measurable criteria 50% to 86% of the time.
Accommodations, teaching strategies, and assessment methods were generic across the entire sample. Frequent check-ins, proximity to instructors, extra time for processing, modelling, prompting, observations, anecdotal notes, repeated. The student-specific part of the “individual” education plan was missing.
Parent participation is a legal requirement. The audit found no evidence of parent consultation in 38% of TCDSB files, 67% of PDSB files, and 95% of UCDSB files. Where consultation was noted, documentation did not show meaningful engagement.
The Ministry set 14 IEP standards in 2017 and promised annual reviews of selected boards to assess compliance. At the time of the audit, it had not conducted a single one.
Finding § 4.4 · Staffing & EA absences
Educational Assistants, the staff doing day-to-day behaviour, personal care, and IEP implementation work, were absent at higher rates than any other educator group. EAs were absent on an average of 18% of school days across the three boards combined. The fill rate compounded the problem.
According to a 2024 survey by the Ontario School Board Council of Unions, 95.8% of EAs and child and youth workers experienced violent or disruptive incidents, 54.8% daily.
The staffing was inequitable to begin with. Student-to-teacher ratios at TCDSB ranged from 8–76 students per teacher; PDSB 13–70; UCDSB 10–78. PDSB schools were understaffed by a net of 51 EAs against PDSB’s own documented allocation methodology, the shortfall came from budget caps, not from a re-think of need.
EA absences gone unfilled, 2023–24
OAG § 4.4.1.
Finding § 4.5 · Training & qualifications
The Ontario College of Teachers does not include specific certification requirements for special education. The Ministry does not set minimum training requirements. Province-wide, between 2019 and 2024, approximately half of all certified teachers held Special Education Part 1, about 20% held Part 2, and about 15% held the Specialist qualification.
For EAs, the Ministry sets no entry or training requirements. There is no provincial certification, licensing body, or mandatory qualification standard. Required behaviour de-escalation training varies: PDSB requires it for all EAs, UCDSB only for those supporting students with safety plans, and TCDSB encourages but does not require it.
59% of regular-classroom and special-education teachers reported receiving no or minimal training on key topics. Over 70% said additional training would help.
Self-reported training gap · no or limited knowledge
OAG anonymous teacher survey, three boards · § 4.5.
Finding § 4.6 · Discipline & exclusion
Under the Education Act, a principal can refuse a student entry if their presence would be detrimental to the well-being of others. The Ministry calls these exclusions a last resort. When they happen, schools must document the reason, notify parents, and create a return-to-school plan.
Between 2020–21 and 2023–24, an average of 239 students receiving special-education services were reported excluded each year, just 0.07%. 23 school boards (32%) reported no exclusions of students with special-education needs in any of those four years.
The Auditor’s teacher survey told a different story. 39% of teachers said they had observed or been involved in informal, undocumented exclusions in 2024–25. Of those, 33% said it happened more than five times.
And students with special-education needs were over-represented in formal suspensions: 16% of total enrolment, 43% of suspensions, and 48% were suspended more than once over five years (vs 21% of other students).
Principals advising SEN students to stay home
Finding § 4.7 · Oversight & funding
Total special-education spending across Ontario’s school boards rose by 21% from 2019–20 to 2023–24, outpacing the 17% Ministry funding increase and 15% inflation over the same period.
In 2023–24, 46 of Ontario’s 72 boards collectively spent $397.9 million (14%) more than they were funded for special education. Boards are allowed to carry forward unspent funds, but underspending must still be eventually directed to special education.
The Ministry promised in its own policy guide to review board special-education plans for compliance. Of the 49 boards that submitted 2023–24 checklists, 69% reported they had amended their plans, mostly without specifying what. The Auditor found no evidence the Ministry identified or reviewed those changes.
School boards have allocated funding to special education programs from other budgets because they have identified this as necessary to try to meet the needs of this vulnerable population. This can negatively affect other education programs and services.
Office of the Auditor General of Ontario · Audit, p. 57
From the audit · in four families’ words
The Auditor General anonymized but did not invent these stories. Each is from a parent or guardian who provided supporting documentation. Pseudonyms are the OAG’s.
Sangeetha
Age 8 · FASD · ADHD · intellectual delay
“Her behaviour was treated as a disciplinary issue rather than a response to her unmet needs.”
Identified only with a behavioural exceptionality, the IPRC could not classify FASD because it is not listed in any Ministry exceptionality category. When she fled the classroom or expressed aggression, the response was discipline.
§ 4.2.1 · 4.5 · 4.6.2
Paul
Age 15 · autism · intellectual disability · CAPD
“Paul wants a job. The school cannot tell him what the steps are.”
Transition goals were unrelated to meaningful long-term outcomes. UCDSB’s transition planning was unrelated to long-term outcomes in 96% of files the Auditor reviewed.
§ 4.3 · transition planning
Yumi
Age 9 · non-verbal autistic · intellectual impairment
“The EA who knew her was absent. The substitute did not arrive.”
EAs were absent on 18% of school days. At her board, between 49% and 72% of those absences went unfilled. Yumi was sent home that day.
§ 4.4 · staffing
Samira
Age 8 · autism spectrum disorder
“We were asked to keep her home. There was no paperwork.”
39% of teachers reported observing informal, undocumented exclusions. Samira’s family was told to keep her home; nothing was recorded.
§ 4.6.1 · informal exclusion
Three boards · side by side
Where any one column is alarming, all three taken together demonstrate how variable a student’s experience can be depending on which Ontario address their family happens to live at.
| TCDSBToronto Catholic | PDSBPeel District | UCDSBUpper Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No parent IEP consultation | 38% | 67% | 95% |
| Transition goals not linked to outcomes | 88% | 93% | 96% |
| Students on assessment waitlists | 1,478661 psych · 817 SL | 733371* psych · 696 SL | 11621 psych · 95 SL |
| Waiting > 1 yr for assessment | 499 | 248 | 0 |
| Student-to-spec-ed-teacher ratio | 8–76 | 13–70 | 10–78 |
| EA absence days, 2023–24 avg | 44 | 33 | 34 |
| EA absences unfilled | 72% | 49% | ~60% |
| Parent guide reading level | Grade 12graduate studies | Post-sec 1graduate studies | Grade 11post-sec 2 |
* PDSB’s psych waitlist captures only high-priority cases · Source: Auditor General of Ontario, May 2026.
The 15 recommendations
Methodology · How to read this audit
The audit ran from January 2025 to March 2026. The team interviewed Ministry staff, board management, families of students with special-education needs, and external organizations including the Toronto Family Network, Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario, Ontario Autism Coalition, and SEAC representatives.
What was sampled: student files at TCDSB, PDSB, UCDSB; IEPs varying by exceptionality, grade, placement; IPRC decisions, placement-change documentation, assessments; anonymous teacher survey at all three boards; 2024–25 and 2025–26 board special-education plans.
What’s out of scope:programs for gifted students (excluded unless noted); care & treatment, custody, correctional settings; private and homeschool settings; federal jurisdiction (e.g., on-reserve schools).
The evidence is on the record
The audit names 15 specific recommendations. The Ministry has agreed to 13. Two recommendations on consistent identification and on tracking assessment waitlists are still outstanding. Tell your MPP what you expect to happen next.
Verified anchors
65% placements undocumented · § 4.2.3
90%+ IEPs without measurable goals · § 4.3.1
43% of suspensions / 16% of enrolment · § 4.6.2
$397.9M board overspend · § 4.7.2
Reading list
Editorial note
Findings reproduced from the public record of the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario. No allegation of wrongdoing is made or implied against any individual.
Verified Facts
65%, of placement decisions for students with special education needs reviewed by the Auditor General contained no written rationale at all
16% / 43%, Students with special education needs account for 16% of Ontario enrolment but 43% of suspensions — and 48% are suspended more than once
up to 72%, Educational Assistants were absent on an average of 18% of school days in 2023/24, and between 49% and 72% of those absences went unfilled at sampled boards
$397.9M, 46 of Ontario's 72 school boards collectively spent (14%) more than the Ministry funded for special education in 2023/24
90%+, At every audited board, at least 90% of annual learning goals in Individual Education Plans lacked measurable criteria