The 2025 Ontario budget has lots of big numbers, but fails to address funding shortfalls in core program areas. CCPA’s same-day budget analysis examined the broad trend, and in an article for The Toronto Star, we discussed postsecondary funding. 

Now, let’s look at school funding. 

In the budget document, the Education sector line item includes child care. In 2024-25, child care accounted for 14 per cent of the funding in that envelope, compared to seven per cent in 2019-20. This increase is almost entirely due to federal transfers for the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. This new child care spending has considerably increased the education envelope—which is good news, but it has also made it harder to keep track of school funding. 

School board operating funding accounts for about 75 per cent of education sector funding. The provincial government provides the breakdown for this funding separately, in the Core Education Funding documents (previously known as Grants for Student Needs), which it released today.

First, the big picture. 

As it stands, school boards are receiving $260 less per student this year than they did in the 2018-19 school year, on average, once we adjust the numbers for inflation and enrolment. 

The gap is much smaller than last year’s. This is due mainly to the fact that the government transferred almost all of the $1.4 billion in unallocated funds (planning provision) in last year’s Core Education Funding document to school boards over the year. Planning provision dropped to $63 million in the projected 2025-26 allocations. 

The $260 funding gap per student per year continues to be significant, representing a funding gap of $561.7 million for the 2025-26 school year, compared to what boards received in 2018-19. The cumulative funding gap—that is, the total amount that Ontario’s school boards have lost compared to what they would have received if their funding kept up with enrolment and inflation—over the past seven years amounts to an astonishing $6.35 billion. 

Then there is the local picture. 

The Ontario government is launching investigations into the financing of three school boards “after they failed to address ongoing financial deficit and spending concerns.” We compared the projected allocation for these boards for the 2025-26 school year with the past allocations, assessing whether funding has kept pace with inflation and enrolment growth. It hasn’t. 

Toronto District School Board – TDSB

TDSB funding has decreased by $400 per student for the 2025-26 school year compared to what the board received in 2018-19, adjusted for inflation. The budget gap for the upcoming school year is $127.1 million, compared to what the board would have received had 2018-19 funding kept pace with inflation and enrolment. The cumulative funding gap over the past seven years is $918.7 million.

Toronto Catholic District School Board – TCDSB 

TCDSB funding has decreased by $370 per student for the 2025-26 school year compared to what the board received in 2018-19, adjusted for inflation. The funding gap for the upcoming school year is $22.3 million, compared to what the board would have received had 2018-19 funding kept pace with inflation and enrolment. The cumulative funding gap over the past seven years is $273.2 million.

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board – OCDSB 

OCDSB funding has decreased by $560 per student for the 2025-26 school year compared to what the board received in 2018-19, adjusted for inflation. The funding gap for the upcoming school year is $41.8 million, compared to what the board would have received had 2018-19 funding kept pace with inflation and enrolment. The cumulative funding gap over the past seven years is $337.4  million.

The provincial government’s persistent underfunding and cumulative funding gaps highlighted in the charts above are likely the main cause of deficits in these and other boards. This financial crisis is not a sudden problem—it has been years in the making, and relates to structural flaws in the funding formula for special education and other areas, which the CCPA has long documented. 

Notes on method

  • Since actuals for 2022-23 have not been made available, this analysis uses the revised estimates for that year.  
  • Calculations exclude unallocated amounts, also described as planning provisions. Boards don’t have discretion over these funds and cannot rely on them when planning for the upcoming school year. Whenever unallocated funds are spent on school boards, revised estimates and actuals are updated, and our subsequent analyses reflect those changes. 
  • Calculations exclude debt service and one-time pandemic-related funding, as did the Ministry of Education’s calculation of average base GSN funding per-pupil in past years.