What is direction of school support?
Direction of school support (or school support designation) refers to choosing a school board to support that best reflects your educational preferences. In Ontario, all property owners are required to support a school board, even if they do not have children or their children are not currently attending school. Tenants can also choose a school board to support.
What is the purpose of direction of school support?
Information on school support is collected by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) and is provided to every school board and municipality. The information is used in several ways:
- The number of people choosing to support a school board determines the number of trustees assigned to the school board.
- The school board you have chosen to support determines which trustees you will be voting for in municipal elections.
- Data on school support is used by school boards and municipalities for planning purposes (e.g., population projections, ward boundary planning).
What are the options for school support in Toronto?
In Toronto, there are four school boards that property owners and tenants can choose to support:
- the English public school board (Toronto District School Board);
- the French public school board (Conseil scolaire Viamonde);
- the English separate school board (Toronto Catholic District School Board); or
- the French separate school board (Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir).
As per legislation, a property owner’s or tenant’s school support defaults to the English public school board (Toronto District School Board).
How do I find out which school board I am currently supporting?
You can find out which school board you are currently supporting by looking at your Property Assessment Notice from MPAC. If you don’t have a copy of your Notice, you can request one using the AboutMyProperty portal on the MPAC website: https://www.mpac.ca/en/MakingChangesUpdates/RequestingCopyYourNotice.
You can also verify the school board you are currently supporting using the online VoterLookup tool: https://www.voterlookup.ca/home.aspx.
How do I change the school board I am supporting to the Toronto District School Board?
You can change the school board you are supporting to the Toronto District School Board through the MPAC website using this link: https://www.mpac.ca/en/MakingChangesUpdates/SchoolSupportDesignation.
The MPAC website describes the criteria for changing your school board support and the eligibility requirements for supporting the separate and French school boards.