Minister Paul Calandra / File. David Briggs, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, BayToday.ca
By David Briggs, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, BayToday.ca
December 6, 2025
While announcing two new school builds in Ottawa this morning and one school expansion –a $162 million investment—Education Minister Paul Calandra offered some thoughts on the future of elected school board trustees.
He did not specifically address the Near North District School Board (NNDSB), which he recently assumed supervision of after the ministry discovered severe governance issues. However, when asked by CBC Ottawa reporter Natalia Goodwin if there would be a 2026 election for Ottawa-Carleton District Board trustees, a board the minister has also assumed supervision of, Calandra said, “I don’t foresee a world […] where the trustees are returned to the Ottawa Carelton District School Board anytime soon.”
See: Education Minister: Near North Board ‘poster child’ for takeover
As for the future of the boards under supervision, including the NNDSB, Calandra said, “To be clear, there is nothing so far that leads me to believe […] that a $43-billion Ministry of Education budget should be delivered by trustees across the province of Ontario. There is nothing yet that has changed my mind on that course.”
The minister explained he would be in a better position in the new year to clarify the ministry’s plans for trustees. “I’m doing some work with respect to charter and constitutional issues. I want to make sure that whatever changes I bring forward, both respect the charter and the constitution.”
Calandra emphasized the ministry’s plan to open student family help offices to address parental issues. Each board would have an office that would “answer questions right away,” the minister said. For each call a case file will be opened, which will be tracked. “As a parent, you’ll be able to see who is working on your file,” Calandra said.
See: Province introduces support offices to improve school accountability
“In the new year, we will have a better way of meeting parents’ expectations and the systems will be able to move much more quickly to address needs, but also to meet the realities of a changing educational system.”
Calandra also mentioned “40 per cent of our trustees were acclaimed, and voter turnout was catastrophically low, the lowest probably in the Western world. Recent by-elections in other provinces had a 1 per cent turnout, so I don’t think it is the best way of addressing current needs any longer.”
He added that the new help offices will take a lot of burden off teachers as well, who often receive many calls from parents. “We can do better, and the ministry can do better by showing a little more leadership than we have.”
Calandra made clear, “Whatever we do, we’re not closing school boards. We’re not amalgamating school boards. I’m not bringing in charter schools. I’m not merging the public and the Catholic system together. This is not going to happen in the Province of Ontario, and I will be a fierce protector of the constitutional and charter rights both of the Catholic and of the French system.”
That said, “That does not mean that there can’t be changes in the governance structure.”
“The English public trustees have no constitutional or charter guarantees,” the minister said. “So, I could strike a pen tomorrow and rid myself of all of them in one fell swoop if I wanted to, but that’s not the case right now even in supervised boards.”
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David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
