School Support Designation

School support designation is a way for property owners and tenants in Ontario to identify which school board they want to support. This designation determines which trustee election you are eligible to participate in.  

Yes. All property owners in Ontario are required to designate school support, even if you do not have children, or your children are not currently attending school. By default, your school support is directed to the English-Public school board unless you’ve chosen otherwise. 

To ensure your correct school support designation is provided to Elections Ontario in time for the next municipal and school board elections on October 26, 2026, it should be reviewed and, if needed, updated by June 1, 2026.  

As a property owner, your school support designation is listed on your Property Assessment Notice and in MPAC AboutMyProperty™.

As a tenant, you can check your current designation with MPAC’s online portal for tenants. 

In Ontario, there are five school board support options:

1. English-Public
2. English-Separate (Catholic)
3. French-Public
4. French-Separate (Catholic)
5. Protestant-Separate (Penetanguishene only)

By default, your designation is set to English-Public, unless you choose to change it.

You can request a change if:

• You own or lease a property in Ontario, or you’re the spouse of someone who does.
• You direct support to only one school board within your municipality.
• If you own or lease multiple properties in the same school board area, all properties must support the same school board.

Additional criteria apply for Catholic and French-language school boards:

• Catholic school boards: 
  • You, your spouse or a joint owner/tenant must be Roman Catholic.
• French-language school boards: 
  • You, your spouse, or a joint owner/tenant must be a Canadian citizen and meet at least one of the following criteria:
    • French is your first language, and you still understand it.
    • You attended a French-language school in Canada.
    • Your child(ren) attend or attended a French-language school in Canada.
• French-language Catholic school boards: 
  • You must meet both the Catholic and French-language school board criteria listed above.

Note: Attending French immersion or French as a second language programs does not qualify.

You can still update your school support designation by filling out a paper application and sending it to MPAC. Follow these steps: 

1. Download the Application for Direction of School Support form in English or French.
2. If applicable, complete the Attestation of Unit Support. Send the completed form to MPAC by mail or email.

Once MPAC receives your application, your request will be processed. If you provide an email address, you will receive confirmation by email.

Changing your school support designation ensures you’re directing support to the school system that reflects your educational preferences.  

Your designation also helps determine how you’re listed on the Preliminary List of Electors, placing you on the correct voters list for the municipal and school board elections.