Ontario Special Education Cuts: What Parents With an IEP Need to Know Right Now
An Ontario educator's perspective for families navigating IEPs, resource support, and shrinking special education services
I have spent my career on both sides of this issue — as a classroom teacher, a special education resource teacher, and now as an educational consultant supporting families privately. I have written IEPs at 11 p.m. because there was no time in the school day to write them. I have watched a resource teacher's caseload climb from 20 students to more than 60.
Over the past two years, Ontario special education cuts have turned something that used to be rare into something routine: parents finding out, often with no warning, that the support their child relied on simply isn't there anymore.
If your child has an Individual Education Plan (IEP), or you suspect they should, you deserve to understand what is actually happening across Ontario's largest school boards right now — and why so much of the resulting work is landing on your child's classroom teacher.
The Funding Squeeze Behind Ontario's Special Education Cuts
Much of this traces back to how the province funds special education, and to the financial supervision several boards are now operating under.
TDSB: A $6.4 Million Cut and 15 Fewer Kindergarten Classes
At the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), the province is reducing special education funding by roughly $6.4 million for the 2026–27 school year, dropping the board's Special Education Fund allocation from about $403 million to about $396.5 million. The board's provincially appointed supervisor has also moved to eliminate 15 specialized kindergarten classes for students with complex needs — following an earlier, controversial decision to increase the size of those same classes from a maximum of eight students to ten.
TDSB has publicly stated it intends to maintain school-based special education staffing at current levels district-wide. But that commitment sits alongside a board-wide budget that has cut roughly $27 million from classroom teaching overall and reduced projected teaching positions by hundreds, driven largely by declining provincial enrolment funding. Maintaining a staffing level is not the same as maintaining the support each individual child actually experiences day to day.
TCDSB: A Program Relocation Scare That Shows How Fragile Trust Has Become
At the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), families at St. Matthew Catholic School were told this spring that their children's Multiple Exceptionalities/Developmental Disabilities (MEDD) program would be relocated to a different school for the fall — a change parents said felt like their child's support was being "stripped away" with almost no consultation. Following public pressure, TCDSB confirmed the program would in fact stay at its current schools for 2026–27.
Parents were relieved, but not reassured. As one mother put it, they are now waiting to see whether the same proposal resurfaces next year. That uncertainty — not knowing whether a program your child depends on will still exist in September — is itself one of the harder costs of these cuts.
Student Support Centres and Specialized Hubs Are Closing Too
This isn't unique to Toronto's two largest boards.
York Catholic's STREAM Centre and Student Services Cuts
Under its own provincially appointed supervisor, the York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) is closing all six of its STREAM Centres of Excellence and reducing library technician positions as part of roughly $4.5 million in identified savings. Among those reductions, approximately $2 million came from student services — a change one union leader representing student services personnel called "unacceptable."
York Region's 249 Education Worker Cuts
Meanwhile, the York Region District School Board (YRDSB) is cutting up to 249 education worker positions ahead of the 2026–27 school year, including more than 201 educational assistants (EAs) — the staff who are often the ones actually implementing a child's IEP day to day, supporting transitions, communication, and behaviour plans in the classroom. At one school with three specialized classrooms for students with exceptionalities, the union representing those workers says at least six of nine EAs are being laid off or redeployed, while two classroom teachers in those same programs have been displaced.
A union representative put it plainly: these are the people who support students with special needs, maintain safe schools, and ensure schools function every day. When those positions disappear, the responsibilities don't disappear with them — they get redistributed, and mostly they land on the classroom teacher.
Why It's Falling on the Classroom Teacher
Here is the part parents often don't see. An IEP is a legal document under Ontario's Education Act. Someone has to write it, track it, adjust it, and deliver the accommodations and modifications it promises: accommodated tests, chunked assignments, assistive technology, behaviour supports, communication with parents.
When there's a full-time resource teacher with a manageable caseload, that person shares the load. When resource teacher positions are cut, consolidated across multiple schools, or spread thinner because of hiring freezes and specialized program closures, that documentation and delivery work doesn't vanish. It shifts onto the one adult who's in the room every day: the classroom teacher.
At the same time, class sizes in general education — and even in some intensive support programs — are trending upward rather than downward in several boards' proposed plans. So the same teacher who is expected to fully implement four, six, or ten IEPs is often doing it in a room with more students and less in-class support than they had a few years ago. Something has to give, and too often what gives is the depth and consistency of support any one child receives.
What This Means for Your Child's IEP
If your child has an IEP, or you're waiting on an assessment, the practical effect of all this is usually one of the following:
Slower turnaround on IEP updates, reviews, and communication from the school
Accommodations that exist on paper but aren't consistently delivered in the classroom
Less continuity when EAs, resource teachers, or specialized programs are reassigned or relocated
More responsibility falling on you to notice gaps before they become setbacks
None of this reflects a lack of care from your child's teacher. It reflects a system where the adults responsible for delivering IEP support are stretched further than they were even two or three years ago.
Five Things Ontario Parents Can Do Right Now
Ask specifically who is responsible for each accommodation. Don't assume the school is handling it — ask by name and by role.
Request the current IEP in writing and compare it to what is actually happening day to day. Gaps between the document and the classroom are common right now, not because teachers don't care, but because capacity has shrunk.
Attend your board's Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) meetings. These are public, and they are where budget decisions affecting your child get discussed before they are finalized.
Document changes in placement, staffing, or program location in writing, and ask the board for its rationale and timeline.
Don't wait for the school to flag a gap. With caseloads this stretched, proactive communication from parents matters more than it used to.
When to Bring in Outside IEP Support
This is also, frankly, where outside support has become less of a luxury and more of a necessity for many families — whether that's private tutoring that reinforces IEP goals consistently between school and home, an educational consultant who can help you read a psychoeducational assessment or navigate an Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC) meeting, or simply a second set of eyes making sure nothing on that IEP quietly stops happening.
Ontario's classroom teachers are doing everything they can with what they have been given. But everything they can is not the same as everything your child needs. Knowing the difference — and knowing what is changing at the board level — is the first step to making sure your child doesn't fall through a gap that policy, not people, created.
If you want help interpreting your child's current IEP or planning next steps, reach out to our team — we work with Ontario families both in person and online.
This post reflects publicly reported information current as of September 2026. Special education plans, budgets, and staffing decisions vary by board and change throughout the year. Always confirm current supports directly with your child's school and school board.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is special education funding being cut in Ontario school boards?
Provincial special education funding is tied closely to overall student enrolment, and several large Ontario boards are projecting enrolment declines for 2026–27. As enrolment drops, provincial funding drops with it — even though the needs of individual students with IEPs don't necessarily decrease. Several boards, including TDSB and YCDSB, are also operating under provincially appointed financial supervisors managing existing deficits, which has led to program relocations, staff reductions, and closures of specialized centres.
Is an IEP legally binding in Ontario?
Yes. An Individual Education Plan is a legal document required under Ontario's Education Act and Regulation 181/98. It must accurately reflect the special education program, accommodations, modifications, and services a student is receiving. Schools are required to implement what the IEP states, though staffing shortages can create gaps between the written plan and daily classroom practice.
What is a Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) and can parents attend?
A SEAC is a standing committee that every Ontario school board must establish under the Education Act. It's made up of school trustees and representatives from local associations connected to special education, and it advises the board on special education programs, services, and budget decisions. SEAC meetings are open to the public, and attending is one of the most direct ways parents can see budget and program decisions before they're finalized.
My child's specialized program or classroom is being relocated or closed — what can I do?
Start by requesting the board's written rationale and timeline in an email so there's a record. Raise the concern with your school principal, then the superintendent if needed, and bring it to your board's SEAC, since program changes are exactly the kind of decision SEAC exists to weigh in on. If the change affects your child's IEP-identified placement, you're also entitled to a review through the Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC) process.
How do educational assistant (EA) cuts affect my child if they don't have a formal IEP yet?
EAs and resource teachers often support students informally while an assessment or identification is pending, not just students with a finalized IEP. When EA positions are reduced, that informal, in-between support is frequently the first thing to disappear. If your child is waiting on an assessment, it's worth asking the school directly what support is available in the meantime and putting that request in writing.
Where can I get help understanding or advocating for my child's IEP?
You can start with your school's resource teacher or special education department, your board's SEAC, or a provincial parent association connected to your child's specific needs. Many families also work with an independent educational consultant or tutor who focuses specifically on IEP goals, since that support isn't dependent on any one school's staffing levels. Learn more about how we support Ontario families or get in touch to talk through your child's situation.
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