Ontario school board told to change flag policy to mark Truth and Reconciliation Day

TORONTO — An Ontario Catholic school board that made headlines for banning alternative flags, including those marking Pride, has been ordered by the province’s education minister to change that policy to fly orange flags on National Day of Truth And Reconciliation.

Paul Calandra’s press secretary Emma Testani said the minister has directed the provincially appointed supervisor of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board to allow the display of the Survivors’ Flag on Sept. 30, honouring those who were forced to attend residential schools.

But Testani said Wednesday the ministry’s directive to amend the school board’s flag policy only applies to the Survivors’ Flag, given the “urgency” of the matter.

“We really are only focused on getting that dealt with right now,” Testani said.

The Greater Toronto Area school board – one of several placed under provincial supervision due to “mismanagement” – has a policy that only allows the Canadian flag, provincial or territorial flags and the school board flag at its schools and buildings.

Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board spokesperson Bruce Campbell would not confirm Wednesday whether the Survivors’ Flag would be flown outside schools next week, saying the board is directing media inquiries to the Ministry of Education since it’s under ministry supervision.

School board trustees voted in June 2024 against allowing flags marking Pride and other events in a decision that sparked controversy within the school board and in the community amid division over youth and LGBTQ+ rights.

Trustee Brea Corbet, who was in favour of flying the Pride flag, told a January board meeting that the policy “is worse for every marginalized person in our schools, by excluding flags that equity seeking groups identify with.”

Meanwhile, groups such as the Campaign Life Coalition applauded the ban.

The policy banning Pride flags was upheld in January and a motion to amend it to allow the Every Child Matters flag to be flown on Sept. 30 was defeated.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2025.

Cassidy McMackon, The Canadian Press