State of the Nation Study: K-12 Online
Learning in Canada
Michael K. Barbour, Wayne State University

History of K-12 Distance Education in Canada
• correspondence education began in British
Columbia in 1919
• first virtual school appeared in 1993 in British
Columbia
• distance education used primarily in rural
areas and was primarily managed by the
provincial governments

K-12 Online Learning in Canada Literature
• administrative & policy issues surrounding the
formation of school district consortia to
provide web-based distance education in
Alberta (Haughey & Fenwich, 1996)
• a research project that began in 1996 using a
school district intranet to provide tele-
learning opportunities to rural, secondary
school students in the province of
Newfoundland and Labrador (Stevens, 1997a,
1997b; Stevens & Mulcahy, 1997)

K-12 Online Learning in Canada Literature
• program evaluations within individual
provinces or across provinces
– Alberta (Haughey & Murihead, 1999)
– Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, & Ontario
(Barker et al., 1999)
– Newfoundland and Labrador (Brown, Sheppard &
Stevens, 2000)
– Alberta (Ballas & Belyk, 2000)
– Alberta, British Columbia, & Newfoundland and
Labrador (Barker & Wendall, 2001)

K-12 Online Learning in Canada Literature
• Canadian Teachers Federation (2000) described
some trends in individual provinces as a part of a
brief to examine potential contract issues related
to K-12 online learning
• first national survey of K-12 online learning in
Canada, reported that Alberta continued to have
the most students engaged in online learning,
with British Columbia also having a significant
number of district-based and consortium
programmes (O’Haire, Froese-Germain & Lane-
De Baie, 2003)

K-12 Online Learning in Canada Literature
• an unpublished document prepared for HRDC that
provided a one page overview of the state of K-12
online learning (with a noticeable focus on Alberta
and British Columbia), along with some of the
potential barriers to successful growth in this area
and recommendations to overcome these barriers
(Smith, 2003)
• in a survey of how schools were using information
and communication technologies, found that almost
30% of schools — and almost 40% of secondary
schools — in Canada were using the Internet for
online learning (Plante & Beattie, 2004)

K-12 Online Learning in Canada Literature
• the number of K-12 schools connected to the Internet
ranged between 91% in Manitoba to over 99% in
Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick
• further, Quebec had the most students per Internet-
connected computer with 6.5 students/computer and
the Yukon had the least number of students per Internet
connected computer with 2.9 students/computer
• “virtually all schools in Canada had computers and nearly
all were connected to the Internet”
(Ertl & Plante, 2004)

K-12 Online Learning in Canada Literature
• a second national survey, mainly provided the reasons why
online learning was growing and ten themes based upon
the literature about online learning at the K-12 level in
Canada, with only a one to two paragraph discussion of the
extent of online education in each of the provinces
(Haughey, 2005)
• the State of e-Learning in Canada report indicated that
more rural schools than urban schools reported having
students who participated in online courses and that this
was often to supplement the curriculum, particularly when
courses were either unavailable or could not be offered
due to limited resources or teachers (Canadian Council on
Learning, 2009)

Methodology
Province/Territory 2008 2009 2010
Newfoundland & Labrador KS / DA MoE / DA DA
Nova Scotia DA MoE / DA MoE
Prince Edward Island DA KS / DA MoE
New Brunswick DA MoE / DA MoE
Quebec KS KS / DA MoE / KS
Ontario KS / DA KS / DA KS / DA
Manitoba KS MoE / DA MoE
Saskatchewan KS / DA MoE MoE
Alberta DA KS / DA KS / DA
British Columbia MoE / DA MoE / DA MoE
Yukon DA KS / DA MoE / DA
Northwest Territories DA MoE / DA DA
Nunavut DA MoE MoE

National Overview
Single provincial
programme
Combination of
provincial and
district-based
programmes
Primarily district-
based
programmes
Use programmes
from other
provinces

National Trends
• Regulations varied significantly
• Method of delivery is still print-based in many
instances
– Greater reliance upon synchronous tools than
elsewhere
• Between 150,00 and 175,000 K-12 students
took one or more DE courses

Atlantic Canada

Atlantic Canada
• Newfoundland and Labrador
– single province-wide program
– no regulations
• Nova Scotia
– single province-wide and district-based programs (also maintains legacy
programs)
– regulations in Provincial Teachers’ Agreement
• Prince Edward Island
– uses distance education from New Brunswick
– two Ministerial Directives
• New Brunswick
– single province-wide program
– series of Ministry policy documents

Central Canada

Central Canada
• Quebec
– district-based programs for drop-put students using provincial level
content provider (mainly correspondence-based)
– English-language province-wide synchronous program
– non-DE focused province-wide program for sharing curricular
resources that is used for DE in limited ways
– no provincial regulations
• Ontario
– province-wide CMS and course content, used by district-based
programs (district co-operation through consortiums)
– several private virtual schools, plus numerous independent schools
with online learning programs
– series of Ministry policy documents

Western Canada

Western Canada
• Manitoba
– three province-wide programs (for online province provides CMS and course
content, used by district-based programs)
– Ministry policy documents currently being updated
• Saskatchewan
– previously similar to Manitoba, now all district-based programs (since 2009-
10)
– no regulations since devolution from Ministry
• Alberta
– province-wide and district-based programs
– limited Ministry policy documents (policy review abandoned in favour of
blended/hybrid learning approach)
• British Columbia
– district-based and private (independent) programs
– Extensive regulatory regime

Northern Canada

Northern Canada
• Yukon
– Utilize programs from British Columbia & Alberta
– referenced in legislation, largely governed by an inter-
provincial agreement with BC school district
• North West Territories
– utilize a program in Alberta
– several Ministry policy documents
• Nunavut
– past and future plans for pilot programs (may utilize
services in Alberta)
– no regulations

Manitoba

Manitoba
• Province offers three forms
– MOE manages correspondence and audio
teleconference systems
o 3400 enrolments for correspondence, approximately
530 for teleconference
– districts manage their own web-based
programmes using MOE content
• approximately 4000 students
• All or almost districts appear to participate in
web-based option to some extent

Manitoba
• Province offers three forms
– MOE manages correspondence and audio
teleconference systems
o 3400 enrolments for correspondence, approximately
530 for teleconference
– districts manage their own web-based
programmes using MOE content
• approximately 4000 students
• All or almost districts appear to participate in
web-based option to some extent

National Trends
• between 150,00 and 175,000 K-12 students
took one or more DE courses
• first online learning programs began in 1993 in
British Columbia
– still most extensive user with over 71,000
students enrolled in one or more courses
• several provinces provide content and
infrastructure, but districts operate programs

National Trends
• method of delivery is still print-based in many
instances
– greater reliance upon synchronous tools than
elsewhere
• seen as a substitute when face-to-face
learning is not feasible or economic
– largely in rural areas
– primarily in specialized subject areas
– often for highly selective students

National Trends
• most extensive distance education regulations
found in British Columbia
– quality assurance model
– funding follows student
• unions are supportive (in some instances
cautiously)
– NSTU has 11 provisions concerning distance
education in their agreement
– BCTF has conducted most of the research into
their programs

http://www.inacol.org/research/docs/iNACOL_Canada
Study10-finalweb.pdf
http://www.inacol.org/research/bookstore/index.php

Your
Questions
and
Comments

Assistant Professor
Wayne State University, USA
mkbarbour@gmail.com
http://www.michaelbarbour.com