The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board (SWLSB) announced on Thursday that it has joined a legal challenge led by the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) against the Quebec government’s newly-imposed budget rules for school boards.
The budgetary rules require the SWLSB to cut more than $6 million from its 2025–2026 budget and could also result in a $5.6 million penalty if the school board is unable to reduce its staffing to meet government targets.
The cuts and restrictions would directly impact services to students, including those with special needs, the SWLSB says in a statement.
On July 16, the government confirmed the final budget rules.
While they include a new funding measure to partially offset the cuts, access to that funding is conditional on the school board agreeing to several strict requirements:
- Reduce staffing to meet a cap set by the Ministry;
- Spend money in very specific areas chosen by the government (dedicated measures), “even if they are not aligned with our community’s priorities,” the SWLSB says;
- Participate in regional and national mutualization projects.
The SWLSB says the conditions prevent the school board from allocating resources “based on what is best to support our students and schools.”
They maintain the conditions also undermine rights guaranteed to Quebec’s English-speaking community under Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects the community’s ability to manage and control its own schools.
On August 13, 2025, the SWLSB executive committee unanimously passed a resolution to join QESBA’s legal application, which asks the court to:
- Suspend (pause) the application of the new budget rules while the legal case is being reviewed;
- Challenge the legality of the rules and how they were imposed.
“Our duty as commissioners is to protect the quality of education and the services our students rely on,” said James Di Sano, chairperson of the SWLSB’s council of commissioners.
“The government’s budgetary rules, as they stand, would strip us of the flexibility to address our community’s priorities and impose conditions already deemed unconstitutional by the courts,” he continued.
“By joining the QESBA’s challenge, we are taking a principled stand for our constitutional rights, our management autonomy, and, most importantly, for the needs of our students,” said Di Sano.
The council of commissioners says in the SWLSB’s statement that it remains “committed to protecting student services, supporting vulnerable learners and advocating for transparency, equity and responsible investment in public education.”
