Ten Education Predictions for 2025

1. Quebec’s Secularism Debate Will Ensnare Schools

Supporters of a secular Quebec scored a big win last February, when an appeals court upheld Bill 21—legislation that, in part, bars teachers from wearing religious symbols in the classroom. Months later, the secular-schools debate reignited after an investigation into conditions at Montreal’s Bedford elementary school. In addition to allegedly subjecting pupils to physical and psychological violence, teachers were said to have sidelined science and sex ed and prevented female students from playing soccer—policies members of the Parti Québécois chalked up to “Islamist infiltration.” The fallout was swift: 11 of Bedford’s teachers were suspended and, in late October, Premier François Legault called, rather vaguely, for a strengthening of Bill 21. A political red herring? Maybe, but several other Montreal-area schools are already being investigated. Réseau évangélique du Québec, a group of Protestant churches and associations, is now calling for the establishment of an independent body to protect kids’ rights to a non-denominational education.

2. The Gender Wars Will Rage On

In 2025, politicians across the country will continue to scrutinize students’ pronouns for political hay. The battle has already hit the courts in Saskatchewan, where three workers’ unions are challenging a new law requiring students under 16 to obtain parental consent to change their names or pronouns at school. All of Canada is involved: Alberta is considering similar legislation of its own, while, in Ontario, Doug Ford has accused schools of “indoctrinating” kids. Pierre Poilievre has similarly decried “radical ideology” in schools—a sure sign the gender wars will carry on well into election season.

3. Thousands of International Students Will Be Deported

The jig is up for dozens of Canadian colleges and universities that went overboard on international student admissions, a scheme Minister of Immigration Marc Miller called “the diploma equivalent of puppy mills.” To fix the issue—and ease the housing crisis— the feds plan to slash study permits by as much as 50 per cent, and further changes will result in some 70,000 international student graduates facing deportation in 2025. Schools are set to lose hundreds of thousands in tuition fees, but their hopeful pupils will pay the highest price. Many took out massive loans in their home countries to afford their studies, sold to them as a path to citizenship.

4. AI Will Infiltrate High School and College Curricula

Some of the world’s largest textbook publishers are putting chatbots to work: Pearson and McGraw Hill already have products in use at more than 100 universities and colleges. These AI companions can deliver impromptu quizzes and explain key concepts as students complete assignments, no matter how late they stay up to study. The Ottawa Catholic School Board, meanwhile, is allowing up to 85 per cent of its teachers’ lesson plans—from K to 12—to be AI-generated. The move is meeting students where they’re already at: a recent KPMG survey showed nearly two-thirds of Canadian students already rely on AI for help with homework.

5. Ontario High Schoolers Will Focus on Financial Literacy...

The cost-of-living crisis means everyone’s got money on their minds—and soon, students will too. In 2025, the Ontario government will introduce financial literacy lessons to the province’s Grade 10 math curriculum, plus a mandatory test that students will have to score 70 per cent on to graduate. More than 80 per cent of young adults agree they need financial IQ support, and similar lessons are already offered in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. The move has drawn criticism from experts who oppose high-stakes standardized tests, but the good news is that students will have several cracks at it before having to entertain a victory lap.

6. ...and Try Out the Trades 

Ontario is desperate for construction workers. The province needs to recruit more than 100,000 of them by 2030 to replenish a retiring workforce. High schoolers could soon fill those gaps: as of next September, a new skilled trades program will allow Ontario students to spend the majority of their Grade 11 and 12 years in trade-centric co-op courses, only returning to traditional classes for English and math. Given the demand for practical skills, the program could reward these kids with lucrative careers for life.

7. Schools Will Grapple With How Best to Grade

The question of how best to evaluate students is a hot subject. New methods include pass-fail exams, or dropping them from Grades 9 and 10 completely, as the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board did back in 2023. The “ungrading” trend, which eschews As and Bs for more descriptive pointers on where students can improve, has gained traction within the Thames Valley District School Board in southwestern Ontario. At Oakridge Secondary School in London, students started pitching (and justifying) their own marks in February of 2023. If expanded, the DIY grading fad is sure to generate even more feedback—from parents. 

8. More Schools Will Be Open Year-Round

How sacred is summer vacation? Not very, according to some schools in Ontario, which have cut theirs by a month in favour of longer breaks in October, December, February and March. It could be a hard sell for the average summer-loving kid, but the so-called “balanced calendar model” may help cut summer learning losses, stave off burnout throughout the year and give kids time to visit family during holiday months. Several schools in Alberta have already signed on, and its rotating-cohort setup is being pitched as a solution for classroom overcrowding in B.C. 

9. The Housing Crisis Will Hit Students Hard

A mere one in 10 post-secondary students in Canada can expect to find a dorm room, with the rest left to fend for themselves in the country’s hellish rental market. With residence waitlists overflowing, Canadian universities are adding thousands of new accommodations: 1,002 at UBC, 336 at Humber College and 311 at Huron College. Yet even Waterloo, Ontario—a city with a full 35 per cent of its students dormed up—is still nearly 5,000 beds short. For the next year, the hardest part of university may well be finding a place to live.

10. Alberta’s Labour Shortage Will Stall New School Builds

Wild Rose Country welcomed more than 200,000 new residents last year—and with them came kids in need of schooling. To keep up, Alberta is embarking on an ambitious $8.6-billion spree that’ll create 90 new schools within the next three years. Someone has to build them, however, and here’s the catch: the province’s job vacancy rate in construction neared a record-high of seven per cent last year, a labour shortage that jeopardizes new roads, houses and, of course, classrooms.