At the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), we want our students to succeed. We believe that by providing students with equitable access and opportunities to programs, we can help them reach their full potential. One way of doing that is by offering the right programs at the right schools.
Toronto is a dynamic city. The population may be growing in some areas but declining in others. These demographic changes have an impact on our schools so it is critical that we plan ahead.
Therefore, the TDSB has developed the Long-Term Program and Accommodation Strategy. This strategy, updated and presented to the Board of Trustees annually for approval, includes several types of accommodation reviews, some of which involve community engagement. These reviews are listed below.
Boundary Change Review
Local neighborhood schools have attendance areas defined by boundaries that are used to establish admission to a school’s regular program. Boundaries between two schools can be changed to reduce overcrowding, utilize surplus space and/or designate addresses to a closer school.
Emerging Capital Priority Project
A school is designated an emerging capital priority if it is significantly over-utilized, is projected to remain over-utilized for the next ten years, and is surrounded by schools that are fully utilized. When the surrounding schools do not have space available, there is no opportunity to alleviate the over-utilized school’s pressure by moving students to the adjacent schools. Therefore, the best solution to the overcrowding is to build additional pupil places through a capital project such as an addition or a new building.
Emerging Capital Priority Projects may also support the outcomes of Pupil Accommodation Reviews. In some cases, new schools or expansions of existing schools are required to accommodate students from a closed school.
Program Area Review
This process looks at the programs offered within a community or grouping of schools and identifies program gaps or space needs. A review may involve looking at a range of options to increase access to programs including the establishment of new schools, introduction of new specialized programs or possible changes to grade configurations.
More information about Program Area Reviews can be found in this brochure.
Property Review
Our school buildings and properties are valuable community assets and we want to ensure we make good decisions about their future use. The purpose of this type of review is to determine if a property should be retained or if it is no longer required for future use and can be declared surplus to the needs of the TDSB and sold.
Pupil Accommodation Review
A Pupil Accommodation Review involves studying a significantly under-utilized school or group of schools. The review considers ways to reduce surplus space and ensure that students have access to viable programs. It may result in the movement of a large number of students between schools or a possible school closure.
Current Pupil Accommodation Reviews:
Other Studies
This section includes reviews that do not necessarily fit within the study groups above, such as site severances, building additions, and new builds. Public consultations have been conducted for these reviews.