Homeschooling vs school in Canada: an honest comparison

Homeschooling is still a small share of Canadian education, but it has grown. A Fraser Institute analysis found the share of students being homeschooled rose from about 0.3% in 2006–07 to 0.7% in 2018–19, with Alberta the highest at 1.9%.

Numbers jumped during the pandemic. Statistics Canada reported that home-schooling enrolment more than doubled to 83,784 students in 2020/2021, up from 40,608 the year before, with the largest increases in the early grades.

In other words, homeschooling is a recognized, established choice — but most families around you will be in school, which matters when you think about community and social life.

Learning at home doesn't always mean homeschooling. In several provinces, students can enrol in a public or private online school and do their work at home.

• Online or distance school: your child is enrolled in a school, follows the provincial curriculum, and is taught and assessed by certified teachers. In British Columbia, online learning schools are publicly funded.
• Homeschooling: you as the parent are responsible for the education. In British Columbia, homeschooling programs aren't supervised by a certified teacher, aren't required to meet provincial standards and aren't inspected by the Ministry.

If you like learning at home but want a teacher, a set curriculum and a clear path to a diploma, online school may suit you better than homeschooling. Many families also mix the two in the high school years.

This is where homeschooling shines. You can move faster in a strong subject and slow down in a weak one, follow your child's interests, travel outside school holidays, and fit learning around sleep, health or family needs.

School offers a set structure that some children and parents find reassuring, and it frees parents' time for work. Online school sits in between: a set curriculum, but more flexibility in when the work is done.

How much the government checks on homeschooling varies a lot across Canada.

• Light-touch: in Ontario, families send an annual written notice and the board is told to accept it as evidence of satisfactory instruction unless there are reasonable grounds to suspect otherwise. In British Columbia, you register with a school each year.
• More structured: Québec asks for an annual notice, a learning project, a status report, progress reports and a monitoring meeting. New Brunswick asks families to apply each year for an exemption from school attendance.

School takes most of this off your plate: the school handles curriculum, assessment and report cards. Read the guide for your province or territory to see exactly what homeschooling would involve where you live.

Public school and public online school are free to attend, though families still pay for supplies, trips and activities. Private schools charge tuition.

Homeschooling costs are mostly paid by families. Alberta is the main exception: supervised home education programs are eligible for funding, part of which is available to parents for eligible costs. The biggest cost of homeschooling for most families is the time and income of the parent who teaches.

School gives a clear path to a provincial high school diploma. Homeschooling alone generally doesn't: in British Columbia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, for example, homeschooling on its own doesn't lead to a provincial diploma.

Homeschooled teens still go on to college and university — often by taking online or distance credit courses (such as Ontario's ILC or BC online learning courses), returning to school for the senior grades, or applying to universities that consider homeschooled applicants individually. Plan this early if your child is approaching high school.

School gives children daily time with a large group of peers, plus teams, clubs and support services in one place. Homeschooled children socialize through homeschool groups, co-ops, community sports, arts programs, faith communities, Scouts or Guides and neighbourhood friends — it takes planning, but it can be rich and varied.

Access to school-based services differs by province. In Québec, for example, homeschooled children can access complementary services through their school service centre or school board, including special education services and speech therapy. Elsewhere, ask your board what homeschooled children can use.