That’s a Wrap – Final School Board Update of 2018

In this School Board Update, we review two recent decisions which will be of interest to school boards. The first is an arbitration decision which considers the Ontario teacher performance assessment (TPA) process in a case where the termination of a teacher’s employment was upheld. The second is a decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario which concluded that a school board was not in violation of the Human Rights Code when it did not provide Applied Behavioural Analysis / Intensive Behavioural Intervention to a young student.

Ontario Government Introduces Safe and Supportive Classrooms Act, 2018

On October 25, 2018, the Ontario government introduced Bill 48, the Safe and Supportive Classrooms Act, 2018. If passed, Bill 48 will amend the Early Childhood Educators Act, 2017, the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996, and the Teaching Profession Act to expand the definition of sexual abuse. Notably, the amendments include: clarification that sexual…

HRTO Dismissal of Application for Delay of One Day Upheld by Appellate Court

In a useful decision for employers, the Ontario Divisional Court has confirmed that the one-year timeline for filing an application with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (Tribunal) will be strictly enforced. The decision provides a valuable warning to applicants that the time limits required to bring a complaint are indeed requirements and will only…

Welcome Back to School!

With this edition of our School Board Update, we’d like to welcome you back to a new school year. In this Update, we discuss a recent policy of the Ontario Human Rights Commission with respect to accessing education for students with disabilities, which notes that while advances have been made in this area, there is still much work to be done.

2018 Client Conference Additional Resources

Keynote Speaker on Mental Health in the Workplace Dr. Raj Bhatla, Psychiatrist-in-Chief and Chief of Staff of the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group Resources from Presentation The Royal is one of Canada’s foremost mental health care and academic health science centres with a mandate of getting more people living with mental illness into recovery faster. The Royal…

2018 Client Conference Additional Resources

Keynote Speaker on Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Luke Anderson, Founder, StopGap Foundation Organizations Supporting People with Disabilities The Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work is an organization offering valuable resources to promote and support meaningful and equitable employment of people with disabilities. Their mission: “As innovators and agents of change, we build partnerships, develop skills, share knowledge…