A Canadian Education Story: Equity, Choice and the Common Good

Photo by Iryna Tolmachova

This past week, I’ve been in the Canadian provinces of Ontario with a delegation of Australian educators supported by the Australian Learning Lecture (ALL)in conjunction with LEAP. Our group comprises principals and teachers, union officials, association representatives, and researchers.

The visit follows the recent publication of the ALL Choice and Fairness: A common Framework for Australian Schools, and the Federal Governments’ Review of the National School Reform Agreement. We’re here to learn first-hand about the conditions in Canada that affect equity and achievement, with a particular focus on funding, regulation, and socio-economic differentiation in the education sector. What we have seen is both challenging and inspiring: it appears that it is possible to have an equitable, needs-based funding and regulatory system that supports achievement for every child. 

We made our first school visit to Notre Dame High School, a school of 694 students from years 7 to 12, serving a low socioeconomic community in the Canadian capital city Ottowa. Notre Dame is classified as an ‘Urban and High Priority School’, where many students attract extra funding due to low literacy and numeracy, poverty and complex needs. At first glance it looks like any culturally diverse high school in Western Sydney or Melbourne. Lino floored hallways with battered metal lockers opposite science project posters, hand-drawn fliers for an LBTQI celebration, end-of-year formal reminders and the school’s code of conduct. Classroom furniture, equipment, and layout were familiar, as were the four year 9 boys who immediately saw an opportunity to dodge participation in a drama improvisation when we walked in. 

Photo by Caroline David

The cultural diversity and palpably positive school culture immediately struck me. Notre Dame High School has a visible, collective commitment to caring for those it serves. This ethos was evident in student artwork, school messaging, and conversations with students and staff. When quietly asked about her relationships with teachers, Fatima, in year 8, replied, “I like some more than others, but I think they all care about us.”

Notre Dame tracks a range of metrics, from attendance (with significant improvements in "good" attendance and decreases in chronic absenteeism) to value-add in learning from year to year (exceeding system averages in several year levels) and pass rates (94.3% for Year 10 in the first semester of 2023/24). They're also actively addressing barriers to student success, providing transportation, nutrition, and laundry support, and engaging families and the wider community. They use data-driven approaches, like the "Relationship Mapping" project adapted from Harvard University, to identify and support vulnerable students. This focus on individual needs within a framework of shared responsibility is truly impressive.

Photo by Andy Mison

Brace yourself: Notre Dame High School is a Catholic public school, fully funded and regulated as part of the same system as the secular public Woodroffe High School down the road, which has a similar socio-economic profile. Students living within the catchment area for either school have a right to attend either school.

This differs significantly from the Australian model and leads to some intriguing observations about the Ontario system. The Ontario system offers the choice between Catholic, French-language, French-Catholic, and English-language schools within local boundaries. However, all are considered 'public schools' and are funded on the same base dollar amount per student, with additional loadings for special needs, socioeconomic circumstances, and Indigenous backgrounds. Approximately 93% of students attend these public schools, with the remaining 7% in fully parent-funded private schools.

All public schools can raise money for 'supplemental activities' but cannot charge for anything related to the curriculum, including consumables and excursions. This ensures that all students can access the full range of educational experiences, regardless of their family's financial situation. Full public funding of faith based schools is a challenge for many of us, and there is undoubtedly some socio-economic and qualitative variation between schools and communities. Still, these conditions reflect the broader composition of Canadian society and are not exacerbated by government education policies of uneven and inconsistent sectoral subsidies, as they have been in Australia for some decades

While the Ontario system is not perfect, the key difference in my mind is that the funding and regulatory conditions imposed by the provincial government and the education system are more efficient at mitigating choice and equity problems than ours. There may also be a more unified philosophy and collective commitment to the common good. 93% of Canadian kids attend public schools, after all.

This Canadian experience so far is challenging the delegation’s long-held assumptions and open our eyes to different ways of structuring and funding schools. The emphasis on equity, the commitment to the common good, and the shared belief in fully funded public education for every student are lessons that remind us of the ‘Fair Go’ and to put our kids first when designing education policy. We'll carry this reminder back to Australia.