The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) operates in a very dynamic and fast-growing city; therefore, it is important to plan for the future and to be adaptable. The TDSB engages in long-term planning to be flexible and accommodate continuous change.
We closely monitor Toronto’s population growth and plans for new residential developments throughout the city. We try to accommodate students at local schools. When there is no room, we look at many different strategies such as:
Each TDSB school has a designated attendance area that serves the students who live in it. If a school has surplus capacity, it may be able to accept students who live outside the area. Every year, the TDSB looks at current and projected enrolment and determines if a school can continue to welcome students from outside its area. If it cannot because of projected enrolment growth, the school becomes closed to students outside the area and only serves students in its area.
For information about Out-of-Area Admission, please refer to our policy and procedure.
When all classrooms in a school are fully utilized, the TDSB looks closely at how space is being used to try to find other spaces that could be converted to classroom space. Minor renovations may be required to convert the spaces to make them suitable.
When a secondary school reaches its capacity, there may be an opportunity to review the school’s timetables to make better use of space. This may be accomplished by changes such as implementing an extended day or by adding a second lunch period.
When all space within a school is fully utilized, portables may be used to accommodate students on the school grounds if there is adequate space.
Portables are a tool used by school boards throughout Ontario to provide additional classroom space. Each year, portables are added to schools where needed and are removed from schools when they are no longer required.
Portables are an easy way for school boards to provide additional space in a short amount of time.
When a school is at capacity, programs other than the Regular program may need to be relocated. Examples of programs that may considered for relocation to another school are French Immersion, Extended French, and Special Education.
In some cases, there are other groups accommodated in our schools like Adult Education or central staff departments. These are examples of groups that could be relocated to make space in a school available for local students.
A redirection is considered when a new residential development is proposed to be constructed in an area that is served by an overcrowded school. This means that students from new residential developments may be sent to other schools outside of the immediate area until space becomes available at local schools.
Residential redirections are a temporary solution used to manage growth. The goal is to return students to their local schools in the future when space becomes available.
For more information, please click here.
The grades offered at a school may be changed to help manage high utilization at school that is projected to persist.
An example could be expanding the grades of a senior school if the local junior schools are full. In this example, by removing Grade 6 students from the local junior schools and adding them to the senior school, enrolment may be better balanced within the group of schools.
A public process called a Program Area Review is initiated when a grade change is being considered. Future Grade Change Studies are also identified in the TDSB’s Long-Term Program and Accommodation Strategy.
At the conclusion of the Program Area Review process, Board of Trustee approval is needed to make the change.
Local neighbourhood schools have attendance areas defined by boundaries that are used to determine admission to the Regular Program.
When a school is overcrowded and is expected to remain so in the long term, the TDSB explores boundary changes to shift students to nearby schools with available space.
A public process called a Boundary Review is initiated when a boundary change is being considered. At the conclusion of the process, Board of Trustee approval is needed to make the change. A Boundary Review includes opportunities for public engagement.
For more information, please click here.
When a school is overcrowded and there are no other feasible options to balance enrolment because other schools in the area are as full, the Board must create much needed additional space. One way to do so is to build an addition onto an existing school.
The Ministry of Education approves all capital projects and provides funding to school boards to support them. Each year, business cases that outline the need for school additions, school replacements or deep retrofits are prepared and submitted to the Ministry of Education for capital funding consideration.
Capital Priority projects are ranked based on a priority sequence (e.g., accommodation pressure, consolidating two or more schools into one new facility) that aligns with the criteria outlined by the Ministry.
For more information about our capital priority projects, please go to https://www.tdsb.on.ca/About-Us/Strategy-Planning/Capital-Priorities.
When a school is overcrowded and there are no other feasible options, the TDSB must create much needed additional space in areas of the City experiencing enrolment growth. In these cases, a new school may be needed.
The Ministry of Education approves all capital projects. Each year, business cases that outline the need for school additions, school replacements or deep retrofits are prepared and submitted to the Ministry of Education for capital funding consideration.
Capital Priority projects are ranked based on a priority sequence (e.g., accommodation pressure, consolidating two or more schools into one new facility) that aligns with the criteria outlined by the Ministry.
For more information about our capital priority projects, please go to https://www.tdsb.on.ca/About-Us/Strategy-Planning/Capital-Priorities.
A closed school site is a property owned by the TDSB that is not currently used as an operating school. It may be used by the TDSB for other purposes or may be leased to a tenant. These properties have been kept by the Board as opportunities to accommodate changes in demographics or urban structure over the long term.
From time to time, a new school may be the best solution to accommodate population growth in these neighbourhoods. If a closed school site is located nearby, it may be determined that the building be re-opened as an operating school.
A recent example of this is the reopening of the Castlebar building in south Etobicoke.
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) uses different interventions available to strengthen our role in the land-use planning process to ensure we have the voice and influence necessary to meet the needs of our rapidly growing city.
School boards are recognized as a commenting agency in the land-use planning process, like a conservation authority or utility provider like Hydro. There is also no special power provided to school boards under the Provincial Planning Act. This means that the TDSB does not have the authority to stop development in neighbourhoods where schools are full.
Despite these challenges, the TDSB is still responsible for ensuring that the accommodation needs of a growing city are met and that our interests are reflected in the land-use planning process to the best of our ability.
The TDSB uses the following processes: