Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra speaks at an announcement at a school in Ottawa, on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra is asking parents not to take their kids out of school for sports tournaments next year when the new attendance rules kick in.
Beginning in the upcoming school year, attendance and participation will count for either 10 or 15 percent of a final mark, depending on the grade.
For Grades 9 and 10, attendance and participation will be worth 15 percent of the final mark, while for Grades 11 and 12 it will be 10 percent.
If a student has more than two unexcused absences, they won’t receive that full 15 or 10 percent.
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Excused absences usually include things like illness and religious holidays. While parents can excuse their children from school for a weekend hockey tournament that starts on a Friday, Calandra says he doesn’t want this to become common practice.
He mentioned that attendance rates in Ontario high schools are among the lowest in the country and that action needs to be taken.
“My advice to parents is, keep them in school,” he said Monday at another event.
“Education should be their priority. We’re going to monitor this over the next year, as I said last week, and if we have to make some additional modifications, we will.”
Calandra noted that they’ve heard from organizations like the Ontario Hockey League regarding “high-level” athletes.
“High-level athletes in training, obviously, we’ll make some accommodation for that, but I say this again to the sports organizations as well: Education is a priority,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first June 29, 2026.
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