Across the country, provincial associations create professional development modules, resources and materials for their members. Below are links to learn more about what other provinces are doing to support school board members and trustees. 

Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) – Modules

Manitoba School Boards Association (MSBA) – Webinar 

Ontario Public School Boards Association (OPSBA) – Modules 

*For information on French modules for professional development, please visit the OPSBA website here. More information can be made available by the FCSQ here.

Alberta School Boards Association Trustee Governance Program
The ASBA Trustee Governance Program offered virtually with the University of Calgary is designed to enable and empower trustees to expand their professional knowledge. This program integrates theory and practice of leadership and effective governance. As trustees move through the program, they will learn how to apply meaningful strategies to different tasks and scenarios in their role as a trustee. To learn more, visit the program website.

Online Governance Resources

Student Representation Across Canada – report published by the Ontario Student Trustees’ Association 

Elected School Boards and High-Quality Public Education: A literature review examining the relationship between high-quality public education systems and governing school boards

Les commissions scolaires élues et l’enseignement public de qualité Une analyse documentaire consacrée au rapport entre les systèmes d’éducation publique de qualité et les commissions scolaires

A useful metaphor for improved nonprofit governance leadership

Ontario School Trustees – Good Governance Website

Saskatchewan School Boards Association Governance Handbook

“School Boards Matter” – the report of the Pan-Canadian study of school district governance

School Boards Matter executive summary

School District Governance – theoretical and conceptual foundations

School District Size and the Impact of Changes to Governing School Boards

Ontario Public School Boards Association Modules

Teachers, Copyright, and Fair Dealing – Know your rights and know your limits!

Thinking of using a short excerpt from a copyright-protected work in your classroom? First, find out if you need permission from the copyright owner. The Fair Dealing Decision Tool helps teachers decide, with just a few clicks, whether fair dealing permits classroom use of short excerpts from print materials, artistic works, or audiovisual materials without needing to obtain copyright permission.

It takes 30 seconds on FairDealingDecisionTool.ca to determine if the intended use is fair dealing. This site helps teachers decide, with a few clicks, whether the fair-dealing provision in the Copyright Act permits copying of short excerpts from print materials, artistic works, or audiovisual materials for students without having to get copyright permission.

Every teacher should bookmark the Fair Dealing Decision Tool: www.FairDealingDecisionTool.ca

Additional documentation regarding CSBA advocacy efforts for Fair Dealing: 

• Why Fair Dealing is Not Destroying Canada Publishing
• Summary Position
• A CSBA letter to Honourable Joly and Honourable Bains where we specifically defend fair dealing – the right for educators to use copyright protected material at no costs.
• A CSBA letter outlining and addressing the proposed options made by the Copyright Review Board of Canada.

There are many organizations and associations dedicated to supporting students and public education across Canada. While not an exhaustive list, the websites linked below support goals and priorities shared by the Canadian School Boards Association.

Public/Educational Policy Organizations
Educational Research Organizations
Government

• Council of Ministers of Education
• EdCan
• UNESCO
• Canadian Society for the Study of Education
• Association of Canadian Deans of Education
• Statistics Canada
• Canadian Association of Communicators in Education
• National School Boards Association (U.S.) 

Curriculum, Administration, Parent Organizations

• Canadian Teachers’ Federation
• Canadian Home and School Federation
• Canadian Association of School System Administrators
• Canadian Association of Principals
• Institute of Public Administration of Canada
• EQUITAS: International Centre for Human Rights Education

Minority Language Instruction

• Canadian Parents for French
• Federation nationale des conseils scolaires francophones
• Le francais pour l’avenir

Physical and Mental Health

• Physical and Health Education Canada
• Teen Mental Health for Educators
• Dieticians of Canada
• Breakfast Club of Canada
• Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse
• PREVnet
• Canadian Mental Health Association
• QuitSmoking

Early Childhood

• Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development
• Canadian Child Care Federation

Special Education

• Canadian Council of Exceptional Children
• Learning Disabilities Association of Canada
• Autism Society Canada
• Canadian Down Syndrome Society
• Canadian Association for Community Living

Aboriginal Education-Policy

• Assembly of First Nations
• The Martin Family Initiative – The Martin Family Initiative (MFI) works in collaboration with Indigenous communities to advance family, educational, and economic well-being outcomes of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children and youth.
• Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada
• CMEC
• Common Curriculum Framework for Aboriginal Language and Culture Programs
• Western Canadian Protocol for Collaboration in Basic Education
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Ministries of Education

• British Columbia
• Alberta
• Saskatchewan
• Manitoba
• Ontario
• Quebec
• New Brunswick
• Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Northwest Territories
• Yukon
• Nunavut

The Canadian School Boards Association is committed to providing valuable resources for education leaders. We believe in collaborating with our education partners to make available a diverse range of resources. Here you will find information on successful programs and best practices from across Canada, as well as important research in the field.

Equity & Racial Justice

The University of Regina’s Equity and Racial Justice Project involves three modules available online, and are excellent for governing school board members.

Module 1: Understanding the History of Colonization, Colonialism, Race, and Racialization on Canadian Society
Module 2: The Impacts of Colonization, Colonialism, Race, and Racialization on the Canadian Education System
Module 3: Redesigning and Rebuilding an Equitable and Racially-Just Education System

National Youth – Pride guide 2022: Youth strategies for tackling gender-based violence in our schools

Readings on Anti-Racism for Trustees

Reports & Studies

Saskatchewan School Boards Association – Economic Impact Study on K-12 education

Mental Health Research Canada – Impacts

Canadian School Mental Health Leadership Network – Year 2 Summary Report

Canadian Academy of Health Sciences | Académie canadienne des sciences de la santé – Autism in Canada: Considerations for future public policy development

Learning for a Sustainable Future
LSF has resources and professional development to support teachers and programs to empower youth in undertaking action, keeping students safe, healthy, and engaged in learning.

EdCan Network
Creating a K-12 Ecosystem that Supports Wellbeing
Professional Well-Being Through Coaching
How can we best support student mental well-being?

Frayme
Frayme supports and leads a variety of work and projects with the aim of improving youth mental health and substance use (YMHSU) care systems in Canada.

Mental Health Literacy
The Mental Health Literacy team is committed to creating and delivering the highest quality mental health literacy information, research, education and resources. 

mindyourmind
Mind Your Mind is where mental health, wellness, engagement and technology meet. They work with young people aged 14 to 29 to co-create interactive tools and innovative resources to build capacity and resilience.

Comprehensive school health remains a strategic plan priority for the association. The focus for CSBA has been supporting a national school food program, which has been a priority for the entire board of directors. The strategic plan identified the need to advocate for a national school food program and policy, and everyone was pleased to see the program announced by the federal government.

We are committed to demonstrating leadership and providing a national voice in responding to the health and wellness challenges of students across Canada. Our Charter of Commitment provides a clear mission, terms of reference and a framework for our work.

From our partners at PHE CANADA…

“Healthy children have increased capacity to learn and develop the values, attitudes and skills necessary to be competent, effective and resilient adults. Learning environments that promote and support student and child well-being focus on their cognitive, emotional, social and physical development – a whole child/student approach. This comprehensive approach aims to improve student health and educational success through the creation of healthy school communities.

A healthy school community promotes a culture of wellness for all its members: students, teachers, administrators, principals, staff, parents, and community partners.  Together, the school community implements plans to create an environment that supports healthy choices among its members.”    

The above organization provides resources, frameworks for Healthy School Communities and current research.  Please visit  http://phecanada.ca. 

Outdoor Play Canada
|Outdoor Play Canada is a national organization that brings together advocates, practitioners, researchers and partner organizations to promote, protect, and preserve access to play in nature and the outdoors for all people living in Canada. 

The Colour of Wellbeing: How do we ensure the wellbeing and success of BIPOC students and K-12 staff? [EdCan article]
Download the factsheet

Anaphylaxis Emergency Plan templates [Food Allergy Canada]

Farm to Cafeteria Canada: Edible Education
Farm to School Canada
Farm to School (F2S) brings healthy, local food into schools, and provides students with hands-on learning opportunities that foster food literacy, all while strengthening the local food system and enhancing school and community connectedness.

ParticipACTION
ParticipACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth 2024

Government of Canada
The health of Canadian youth: Findings from the health behaviour in school-aged children study

What is the Early Development Instrument? The questionnaire has 103 questions and measures five core areas of early child development that are known to be good predictors of adult health, education and social outcomes. [Text via The Human Early Learning Partnership.]

Learning for a Sustainable Future
LSF has resources and professional development to support teachers and programs to empower youth in undertaking action, keeping students safe, healthy, and engaged in learning.

EdCan Network
Creating a K-12 Ecosystem that Supports Wellbeing
Professional Well-Being Through Coaching
How can we best support student mental well-being?

Frayme
Frayme supports and leads a variety of work and projects with the aim of improving youth mental health and substance use (YMHSU) care systems in Canada.

Mental Health Literacy
The Mental Health Literacy team is committed to creating and delivering the highest quality mental health literacy information, research, education and resources. 

mindyourmind
Mind Your Mind is where mental health, wellness, engagement and technology meet. They work with young people aged 14 to 29 to co-create interactive tools and innovative resources to build capacity and resilience.

Social Connection Guidelines
Like food and exercise, social connection is a fundamental determinant of our health, happiness, and longevity. Our recommended public health guidelines for social connection provide evidence-based guidance for fostering healthy social lives at the individual and community levels.

Canadian Healthy Schools Alliance
The Canadian Healthy Schools Alliance is a Canada-wide network of organizations promoting health and well-being in school communities to improve learning and set students up for lifelong success.

Pan-Canadian Joint Consortium for School Health
The Pan-Canadian Joint Consortium for School Health (JCSH) was established by provincial, territorial, and federal governments in 2005 as a means of bringing together two large systems – Education and Health –to champion and work towards improvements in the health, well-being, and achievement outcomes in school-aged  children and youth in Canada.

PHE-EPS Canada
The PHE Community is empowered to equip each and every child and youth with the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to lead resilient, active and healthy lives.

ASCD – Learn.Teach.Lead.
Educational Leadership magazine

SIRCLE: Essential Conditions for Comprehensive School Health
SIRCLE has created a tool to help schools reflects, plan, and celebrate their Comprehensive School Health efforts.

The Coalition for Healthy School Food is a growing network of over 180 non-profit member organizations from every province and territory.

Canada’s National School Food Program: Feeding the future today https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/school-food/feeding-future.html

College of Alberta School Superintendents (CASS)
Workplace Wellness
CASS supports building system leader excellence to ensure student success. System education leaders play a critical role in ensuring quality school leadership, quality teaching, and optimum learning for all students in Alberta. To meet the respective professional practice standard, all teachers, school leaders, and system leaders need to be in good health.

Well at Work
Developed by the EdCan Network, Well at Work supports education leaders across Canada to develop and implement system-wide strategies to improve K-12 workplace wellbeing for the long term – all while mobilizing a network of passionate educators, researchers, practitioners, and stakeholder groups.