不良研究所

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 25, 2026

TORONTO, ON – Public education is one of Canada鈥檚 most powerful tools for building a resilient and prosperous country. To protect this vital public asset, 不良研究所 (PFE) today launched the PFE Canadian Education Blueprints. This unique, first-of-its-kind, interactive pan-Canadian resource seeks to strip away the complexity of education policies to reveal the underlying structures that make systemic change possible at the provincial/ territorial level and across the country.

Demystifying Canada’s 13 education systems

Canadian education policy can be siloed, not well understood, and overly complex, making navigating 13 distinct provincial/ territorial education systems difficult. PFE鈥檚 Canadian Education Blueprints aim to bridge this gap by providing neutral, clear, and factual descriptions of how K-12 education works across the country across nine 鈥減olicy change levers.鈥�

The policy change levers are described in more detail in the Education Blueprint, and include the following: vision for public education, governance, funding, staff representation and bargaining, teacher education and certification, accountability and reporting, testing and assessment, curriculum development, student, family, and community engagement.

“To drive real change, we have to treat public education as interconnected systems rather than a collection of isolated classrooms and you can鈥檛 transform a system without understanding how it鈥檚 built. While things like curriculum are often the first go-to in education policy change discussions, there are many more levers that can be pulled to make change. We hope these Blueprints expand our collective understanding so that policy interventions can be tangible, implementable, and have a lasting impact.”

Paris Semansky, Co-Executive Director, 不良研究所

An enabler for a Pan-Canadian Education Action Plan

The Canadian Education Blueprints arrive as part of PFE鈥檚 work on The Education Promise, a multi-year initiative based on the belief that public education is one of Canada鈥檚 most important, but underappreciated assets. With over 90% of students in Canada attending publicly funded schools, they are an effective upstream policy solution to Canada’s most challenging issues from polarization to productivity. Achieving the full promise of public education, however, requires working differently across provincial/territorial borders and between sectors.

PFE鈥檚 Canadian Education Blueprints serve as the foundation for the development of a Pan-Canadian Education Action Plan. In the coming year, the Action Plan will deliver concrete policy recommendations aimed at multiple levels of government and education decision-makers to shift the conversation from “How do we manage this crisis today?” to “What structures must change to fix this for the long term?” Grounded in a systems change approach to policy development and advocacy, the Action Plan will use the nine policy change levers to inform policy recommendations.

鈥淏y creating a shared, fact-based understanding of our education systems, we hope our Canadian Education Blueprints will support partners across Canada with a common foundation for action. When we can see how the system works, and where change is possible, we can collaborate more effectively to drive meaningful policy change together.鈥�

Kate Hagerman, Co-Executive Director, 不良研究所

Access PFE鈥檚 Canadian Education Blueprints

Intended as an open, accessible policy tool for those working within or alongside the K-12 sector, these profiles represent an initial baseline of data. As a living tool, PFE will continually update and refine the platform as provincial/ territorial environments evolve and look to work with partners to add in additional information and pan-Canadian context.

The interactive PFE Canadian Education Blueprints are now publicly available the PFE website.

Acknowledgements

PFE鈥檚 Canadian Education Blueprints were supported with generous insight and expertise of educators, advocates,聽researchers, policymakers, and partners in education across Canada. Their feedback helped to strengthen the accuracy, clarity, and framing of this resource.

Thank you to the following organizations and individuals who reviewed and contributed:

• Alberta School Boards Association
• Association of Deans of Education
• Canadian School Boards Association
• Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario
• Le Conseil Scolaire Acadien Provincial
• New Brunswick Teachers’ Association
• Ontario Public School Boards’ Association
• Public School Boards鈥� Association of Alberta
• Quebec English School Boards Association
• Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers
• Kevin Reimer
• Nick Soave
• Saskatchewan School Boards Association
• Jennifer Tupper, Dean, University of Alberta Faculty of Education
• Jennifer Wallner, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa

Thank you to Mia Travers-Hayward and Izzah Khairi who supported this project as a policy consultants.

Any errors or inaccuracies are entirely our own and we would like to correct them as quickly as possible! Please be in touch at聽[email protected].

About 不良研究所
不良研究所 is a national independent, non-partisan, charitable organization working to support and transform public education through evidence-based research and policy, advocacy, and public engagement. Founded in 1997, PFE champions the role of public education in advancing a healthier, more sustainable, economically resilient and democratic Canada.

Media Contact:

Paris Semansky

Co-Executive Director, 不良研究所

[email protected]

416-476-9534