Preparing interactive tool
Ontario education bargaining 2026
Get your school to put your child’s supports during job action in writing, before it starts.
What you will need: The supports your child receives, their grade, and your school board
SOURCE
Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario • 2026-06-03
Joint release of the five central unions. Source for the June 3 notice date, the 255,000+ combined figure, the joint list of bargaining priorities, and the five presidents’ names.
SOURCE
Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation • 2026-06-03
OSSTF mirror of the joint June 3 release.
SOURCE
Ontario School Board Council of Unions • 2026-03-02
The March 2 joint call for early bargaining, which the unions say the government did not take up.
SOURCE
Ontario School Board Council of Unions • 2026-07-22
Source for days at the central table, the Ontario Labour Relations Board scope dispute over centralizing historically local items, and OSBCU’s own statement that the dispute could delay bargaining by several months.
SOURCE
The Globe and Mail • 2026-06-03
Source for the 15-day meet requirement, union leaders’ statements that they are preparing for strike votes, and the 6.4-billion-dollar underfunding figure as characterized by the unions in this report (not an independently verified accounting).
SOURCE
CBC News • 2026-06-03
Source for the bargaining countdown following notice to bargain.
SOURCE
CanLII • 2014
The statute governing two-tier central and local bargaining in Ontario school boards, including the Crown’s role and the conciliation route into a lawful strike position.
SOURCE
Ontario Human Rights Commission
The governing human-rights guidance for work stoppages involving educational assistants. Sets out the shared duty on government, school boards and unions to put contingency plans in place, and confirms that interference with a collective agreement does not constitute undue hardship.
SOURCE
Ontario School Board Council of Unions • 2026-08-06
Source for the August 6 filing of the formal OLRB scope application ("today we filed an application with the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) asking it to determine which issues belong within the scope of central bargaining"), for OSBCU’s statement that it cannot say how long the OLRB process will take, and for OSBCU’s account of the employer’s condition for returning to the table. Also the source for locals being asked to sign strike pledges - a pledge is not a strike vote, and no strike vote is reported.
SOURCE
Ontario School Board Council of Unions • 2026-08-06
OSBCU president Joe Tigani’s written request that bargaining proceed on items both sides already agree are central, while the OLRB decides the disputed items. Indexed on the OSBCU news listing.
SOURCE
Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation • 2026-03-02
OSSTF mirror of the March 2 joint call, and the source for the statement that the Minister of Education has authority to allow bargaining to begin up to 180 days before the agreements expire.
SOURCE
Government of Ontario
Section 1 (equal treatment in services, including education) and section 17 (duty to accommodate).
SOURCE
Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens
AEFO public bargaining-status page. Confirms a temporary pause while the Ontario Labour Relations Board decides the central-versus-local scope question, and states that current working conditions remain in place until a new collective agreement is signed.
SOURCE
CP24 • 2026-08-18
Source for ETFO president David Mastin’s statement that job action is under consideration but not imminent ("one step at a time"), OSSTF president Martha Hradowy’s "Let us bargain", and the Ministry of Education’s statement that it remains ready to continue discussions on the scope of central versus local issues. No hearing date is given.
SOURCE
CHCH News • 2026-08-19
Source for the table-by-table picture on August 19: ETFO and OSSTF not currently bargaining, and OECTA the only major union still engaged in negotiations. Also the source for the unions’ characterisation that the government is seeking to move historically local items, such as staff transfers and surplus decisions, to the central table.
SOURCE
CBC News • 2026-08-31
Source for ETFO and OSSTF talks being stalled on the central-versus-local scope dispute, Martha Hradowy’s estimate that the Labour Board process could take "weeks, if not months", the Ministry spokesperson’s statement that it is "at all times ready to continue discussions on local versus central issues before proceeding to the next stage", and a labour-studies expert’s observation that there cannot be job action until there is actual bargaining. No hearing date had been scheduled.
SOURCE
Ontario School Board Council of Unions • 2026-08-24
OSBCU’s call for members to rally across Ontario on August 29, 2026 to "defend public education". Participant numbers are not published. No strike vote is announced.
SOURCE
Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (joint release of the five central unions) • 2026-09-01
Signed by the presidents of AEFO, ETFO, OECTA, OSBCU and OSSTF/FEESO. Source for the statement that teachers and education workers will welcome students back without new contracts, and for the unions’ characterisation of the Minister of Education’s earlier remarks ("optimistic" that deals could be reached before Labour Day; "relative peace"). It is one side’s statement: the Minister’s remarks are recorded here as the unions’ characterisation, not as verified quotations. It announces no strike vote and no job action, and does not mention special education. Mirrored at osbcu.ca.
SOURCE
Legislative Assembly of Ontario • 2026
Official enacted text and status. Bill 101 received Royal Assent as S.O. 2026, c. 4. It changes the employer bargaining agency for English public and Catholic boards to the Council of Ontario Directors of Education and adds provisions limiting personal liability, causes of action and remedies in specified circumstances. The enacted text preserves judicial review and constitutional remedies in specified provisions and preserves Crown vicarious liability under section 17.2.
SOURCE
Legislative Assembly of Ontario • 2026-04-14
Official record of Opposition Leader and Davenport MPP Marit Stiles asking why the Minister of Education needed immunity in Bill 101, and the Minister describing the restructuring of employer-side bargaining.
SOURCE
Ontario School Board Council of Unions • 2026-09-02
Source for the September 2 mediation session at the Ontario Labour Relations Board on the central-scope dispute ending without agreement ("It was clear very early in the day that there was no way that we could reach agreement on central scope"), for the dispute proceeding to a full Board hearing with a decision OSBCU says "should be issued this fall," and for OSBCU’s planned September 16 province-wide day of action, a leadership conference running September 18 through September 20, and October 24 rallies. No strike vote is mentioned.
SOURCE
CP24 • 2026-09-02
Source for OECTA president René Jansen in de Wal’s statement that a strike vote is not a strike and that "98 per cent of labour disputes get settled without a strike," and for schools returning September 8 without new contracts.
SOURCE
AM800/CKLW • 2026-08-20
Source for Education Minister Paul Calandra’s quoted statement "I still remain very optimistic" and that the school year "will start as scheduled," for OECTA having completed ground rules without finalizing central scope, and for ETFO president David Mastin’s statement that an OLRB scope ruling could take weeks or months.
SOURCE
Legislative Assembly of Ontario • 2026-04-30
Official clause-by-clause record. MPP Chandra Pasma challenged the accountability and liability provisions and objected to boards covering supervisor legal expenses, including for criminal proceedings.
Method
This tool does not predict a strike. No strike vote has been held in the 2026 round and no job action has been scheduled. What it does is map each support your child receives to the staff group that ordinarily delivers it, so you know which questions to ask and of whom.
The rights language comes from the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s fact sheet on equal access to education for students with disabilities during strikes, together with sections 1 and 17 of the Ontario Human Rights Code. The Commission’s position is that government, school boards and unions each have an active duty to plan for continued access, and that interference with a collective agreement does not amount to undue hardship.
Nothing you enter is transmitted or stored. The letter is generated in your browser.
For the wider picture, read our briefing on the 2026 bargaining round or check the live tracker.
Next Steps
Families navigating autism services in Ontario face a documented multi-year wait. Here is the Ontario data — and a two-minute way to push back, when you are ready.