Montreal, August 21, 2025 – The Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) has launched a legal challenge against the Ministry of Education’s decision to impose restrictions and conditions on funding for the 2025-2026 school year. QESBA asserts that these budgetary measures infringe upon the management and control rights guaranteed to the English-speaking minority language community under section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Through this action, QESBA is seeking a stay to suspend the application of the budgetary rules to prevent direct impact to students, staff and schools while the matter proceeds before the courts.
The contested rules prohibit English-language school boards and service centres from adopting deficit budgets and preventing them from using accumulated surpluses to offset government-imposed cuts. QESBA maintains that these restrictions undermine the boards’ ability to make locally accountable financial decisions in the best interest of their students. The rules effectively strip English-language school boards of the flexibility they require to protect programs, services, and staffing levels across their communities.
“These conditions violate, once again, our constitutional rights to management and control under section 23,” said QESBA President Joe Ortona. QESBA underscores that this is not the first time English-language school boards have had to resort to legal action to uphold their constitutional rights. Section 23 was specifically entrenched in the Canadian Charter to ensure minority language communities can manage and control their institutions, a protection QESBA asserts is continually eroded by government measures that centralize decision-making and undermine local governance.
“This is not just a legal matter—it is about our students, our classrooms, and the quality of education we provide every day. The government’s unilateral approach threatens the stability of our education system and jeopardizes the future of an entire generation. We have no choice but to act to defend our community and its constitutional rights to safeguard the educational opportunities our students deserve,” concluded the President.
On August 15, 2025, all nine English-language school boards voted unanimously to join QESBA’S challenge, and documents were formally filed in Quebec Superior Court on their behalf.
QESBA is the voice of English public education in Québec and represents 100,000 students in over 300 elementary, high schools, and adult and vocational centres across Québec.
-30-