School Board Elections Are Important, but They Garner Little Attention From Voters
School board elections are opportunities for Canadians to hold their trustees accountable and to demand better results.
Municipal and school board elections are scheduled in five Canadian provinces this fall, with school board elections often seeing extremely low voter turnout. Despite this, school board trustees wield significant authority, influencing policy, budgets, and accountability within the public education system. They are democratically accountable representatives, alongside provincial ministers of education, who shape the quality of education children receive.
- Five Canadian provinces and Yellowknife will hold municipal elections this fall.
- School board elections will coincide with municipal elections in B.C., Manitoba, and Ontario.
- Municipal election turnout is generally lower than provincial or federal elections.
- School board election turnouts can be as low as 1-2% of eligible voters.
- Trustees play a significant role in public education, setting policies, budgets, and holding schools accountable.
- Trustees are the only democratically accountable representatives, besides provincial ministers of education, with a say in education.
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