Is it true that kids in Canada can go to Catholic schools for free?

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Soozann

In Ontario, the "public" schools include those from the Catholic School Boards and the regular public school boards. For example, if you live in Toronto, your children - based on your religion - may attend a school in the Toronto District School Board or the Toronto Catholic District School Board. I believe that you must actually be Catholic and provide a letter from a parish priest in order to gain admission to the Catholic schools. (Catholics have the option of attending the regular public schools as well.)

All public education in Ontario is funded by the Provincial Government. There are no fees to attend school other than the usual incidental fees charged by high schools (e.g. student council, yearbook, field trips). This gives Catholic families the option of sending one child to a regular public school and another child to a public Catholic school. When education was being funded by the municipalities in combination with a minor subsidy from the province, families had to declare their school board support in order to direct their taxes appropriately. So, for a Catholic family it was all or nothing - all the children in your family either attended the public Catholic school or the regular public school.

I believe there is a similar situation in the other provinces across the country as to Catholic and non-Catholic schools. The origin would come from the time of Confederation in 1867. With a major portion of the country comprised of Quebec and the Catholics living there, the country needed to ensure that they would have public education for all. Of course, at that time, it did not include all the many different religious groups we now include as part of our multicultural country. That is also the reason we have English and French as our 2 official languages. These rights are firmly entrenched in Canadian law. The only changes in recognition of our growing multiculturalism will be when families can receive tax credits for fees paid to private schools from their own religious groups other than Catholic.

Jamie

The catholic schools are publicly funded, just like the normal schools. It's your choice.

Canadian Ken

You have the option here in Ontario to have your property taxes go towards public or Catholic school. This is why your cousins family does not pay out of pocket for schooling.......but they do pay with the property taxes.

moglie

all schools are free except private ones,they are even good and clean and have supplies, even safe, no gun/metal screening at the door. Different concept huh?

Fleur de Lis

Its paid for through taxes. Parents still have to pay some money to the school for supplies and extras.

old lady

That's because you live in a different country, which applies different taxes and has different rules. Sorry, but that's just the way it is. And it's only one of the differences between Canada and the US. We have free medical care as well, which isn't something US citizens enjoy.
Sometimes it's tough to look across a border and see things other people have that you don't have, but that's what makes countries different. You have regulations and advantages that Canadians don't have -- like being able to buy beer in a grocery store, where we have to go to a liquor store.

sambot

Pretty much free.

Of course it depends on which province you live in as to what sort of access you can have. Where I live, Public = everybody, Separate = catholic. The town north of here is different. Public = Catholic, Separate = everyone else.

It's possible to attend either system. In my town you designate which system you want your taxes to support. You can send your kids to either system. One year I had 2 in public and 1 in separate. All I had to pay was the additional school fees that all schools need to collect.

Schools are a provincial responsibility, but French, which originally ended up meaning Catholic, were guaranteed educational opportunities, which is why some provinces have a dual system.

cbmaclean

Not sure now, but in 1984 a freind had to pay a small fee of $25 per month extra for each kid she sent to Catholic school here in BC, Canada.

browneyedgal

Not that any in my area. What they usually do in my area is they accept the money they give to the church as payment, but they are required to pay a certain amount per child each year. Other areas, I dont nkow

beachsides_gurl

where i went wen i was younger was st thomas aquinas(lindsay ontario)..my parents didnt pay for me to go and i stayed there

We are not terrorists ÙŠØ§ Ø¹ÙŠÙ†ÙŠ

Free in most places, they are publicly funded. In the NWT where I live, I have the choice to put my children in the public school system or the Catholic School Board. Of course, in some areas, there are religious institutions that offer a Catholic-based curriculum (or other religious based instruction), these are private schools that are sometimes partly funded by the public purse, but that charge tuition.

Twitch

Yes.
B/c we rock.

bentheguru

Only boys under 10 get to go for free

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