Ontario Regulation 309/26 amends Ontario Regulation 521/01, Collection of Personal Information, under the Education Act. The regulation expands police record check requirements for individuals involved with Ontario school boards and certain schools under the jurisdiction of the Minister. The changes also establish specific requirements for trustees and members of several school-related committees.

One important change concerns individuals providing child care at school sites. An individual is not considered a “service provider” under the regulation if they provide care for children at a school site and are required to obtain a vulnerable sector check under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014. This clarifies the interaction between the education-sector police-check rules and the separate requirements applicable to child-care providers.

The regulation also expands the categories of people subject to the collection of police record checks. Trustees of school boards are now expressly included, as are members of five types of committees: audit committees, parent involvement committees, school councils, special education advisory committees, and supervised alternative learning committees. These additions bring individuals serving in governance, advisory, parent, and oversight roles within the regulation’s police record check framework.

A transitional provision applies to individuals born in April through August whose most recent police record check was collected on or before September 1, 2021. For these individuals, the board must collect a new check no later than the last day of their birth month in 2027. This creates additional time for affected individuals while establishing a firm deadline for updating older checks.

The regulation also updates related provisions so that police record check requirements expressly apply when an individual becomes or continues as a trustee or committee member. The terminology throughout the regulation is revised accordingly, extending references that previously applied to employees, service providers, volunteers, or students.

Boards retain some flexibility where a required police record check has not yet been collected. Subject to the regulation’s conditions, a board may allow an individual to begin or continue employment, service-provider activities, volunteer work, an educational placement, trustee duties, or committee membership while the check remains outstanding.

Ontario (309/2026) September 29, 2026
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