Welcome to JFCY’s Legal Wiki which provides information about the legal rights of children and youth in Ontario. Click here to download this information from our Publications page. Please contact us if you have any questions or trouble finding the information that you seek. You should speak to a lawyer for legal advice since laws often change.
Videos are also available on the JFCY video page and YouTube (@JFCYOntario playlist):
Identification Placement Review Committee (IPRC)
Exceptionalities and Placements
Individual Education Plan (IEP)
Guide for Students and Caregivers (72-pages). Table of Contents and links to each section are below.
Table of Contents
Introduction to Special Education in Ontario
Education in Ontario
Who’s who in the education system?
What is my role as a parent?
What is my role as a student?
Communicating with the school
Special Education in Ontario
Quick introduction to key concepts
Special education flowchart
How are learning needs identified?
Exceptionalities
Placements
Accommodations, modifications, alternative programs
How are students identified as exceptional?
The Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC)
What is the IPRC?
Identification and Placement
IPRC flowchart
Requesting an IPRC meeting
Guide to special education
Who will be at the IPRC meeting?
Preparing for the IPRC meeting
What is the Individual Educational Assessment?
What to expect at the IPRC meeting?
The IPRC Statement of Decision
The IPRC Statement of Decision and your options
Appeals flowchart
The second IPRC meeting
Filing a Notice of Appeal with the SEAB
The SEAB panel members
Before the SEAB hearing
Can I bring a support person to the SEAB hearing?
The SEAB hearing
The Special Education Tribunal (SET)
The SET process
Appeals timelines flowchart
The Individual Education Plan (IEP)
What is an Individual Education Plan (IEP)?
Purpose of the IEP
IEP flowchart
What is included in the IEP?
Accommodations, modifications, alternative programs
Transition plans
What if I disagree with an IEP?
Bringing forward concerns:
to the school/board
to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal
Glossary
Resources
Community organizations
Supports by category
The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) provides unique rights and procedures for young people between the ages of 12 - 17 who are charged with a criminal offence in Canada.
Going to school is a legal requirement for young people between the ages of 6 and 17. The Education Act gives parents and children specific rights in the publicly funded school system.
Videos are also available on the JFCY video page and YouTube (@JFCYOntario playlist):
Identification Placement Review Committee (IPRC)
Exceptionalities and Placements
Individual Education Plan (IEP)
Guide for Students and Caregivers (72-pages). Table of Contents and links to each section are below.
Table of Contents
Introduction to Special Education in Ontario
Education in Ontario
Who’s who in the education system?
What is my role as a parent?
What is my role as a student?
Communicating with the school
Special Education in Ontario
Quick introduction to key concepts
Special education flowchart
How are learning needs identified?
Exceptionalities
Placements
Accommodations, modifications, alternative programs
How are students identified as exceptional?
The Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC)
What is the IPRC?
Identification and Placement
IPRC flowchart
Requesting an IPRC meeting
Guide to special education
Who will be at the IPRC meeting?
Preparing for the IPRC meeting
What is the Individual Educational Assessment?
What to expect at the IPRC meeting?
The IPRC Statement of Decision
The IPRC Statement of Decision and your options
Appeals flowchart
The second IPRC meeting
Filing a Notice of Appeal with the SEAB
The SEAB panel members
Before the SEAB hearing
Can I bring a support person to the SEAB hearing?
The SEAB hearing
The Special Education Tribunal (SET)
The SET process
Appeals timelines flowchart
The Individual Education Plan (IEP)
What is an Individual Education Plan (IEP)?
Purpose of the IEP
IEP flowchart
What is included in the IEP?
Accommodations, modifications, alternative programs
Transition plans
What if I disagree with an IEP?
Bringing forward concerns:
to the school/board
to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal
Glossary
Resources
Community organizations
Supports by category
In Ontario, you can choose where you live when you are 16 years old. The decision to leave is often not easy and can lead to difficulties in getting all your belongings, having enough money to support yourself and attending school.
Become informed about your legal rights when it comes to decisions about your healthcare and mental healthcare treatment. This includes any procedure carried out or prescribed by a health practitioner to diagnose or treat a physical or mental health condition.
The Ontario Human Rights Code protects you from discrimination on many grounds and in many social areas. Specific legal concerns raised by youth identifying in LGBTQI2S communities are about GSAs, Trans and Gender Inclusive Spaces and changing their ID.
You can be given a ticket for breaking a provincial law if you are over the age of 16. Some of the common laws that young people are given tickets for is covered in this section.
Emergency help, criminal court, civil remedy and other supports
In family law, the rights of children are unique. Become informed about going into and being in the care of a Children's Aid Society, when parents can assault you (corporal punishment / spanking exemption to assault), and your right to be heard when your parents are splitting up.
JFCY's Childhood Arrivals and Support & Advocacy Program (CASA) provides services to young people who arrived in Canada as children and are living in Ontario without immigration status.
Street Youth Legal Services (SYLS) is a program that provides information and services for homeless youth between the ages of 16 - 25. These are some of the common issues that the SYLS lawyer is asked about.
