Preschools and elementary schools

Starting from April 12, 2021 face-to-face extracurricular activities will be prohibited.

Intramural activities are permitted, before and after classes and during lunch hour, but only within the same class group. Field trips are also permitted within the same stable class group. However, overnight stays are not permitted.

Special pedagogical projects can continue as long as the principle of stable class groups is respected. If this is not possible, a 2-metre distance between students from different stable class groups must be maintained at all times, and the health guidelines must be strictly followed.

Secondary schools

Starting from April 12, 2021, Secondary III, IV, and V students will attend class one day in two.

Starting from April 12, 2021, In-person extracurricular activities will be prohibited.

Intramural activities are permitted, but only within the same class group. Field trips are also permitted within the same stable class group. However, overnight stays are not permitted.

Following recommendations from Public Health and the Institut national de santé publique du Québec, the wearing of a procedural mask will be compulsory at all times in schools for elementary school students attending an establishment located in the red zone. As such, as of March 8, Grade 1 to 6 students will be required to wear a procedural mask in classrooms, common areas and on school transportation.

The masks will be supplied by the schools.

The public health authorities (Direction régionale de santé publique DRSP)

• The public health authorities are informed by the school administration when a positive diagnosis of COVID-19 is reported. 
• The public health authorities proceed with an investigation once the positive diagnosis of COVID-19 is confirmed.
• The public health authorities follow up with contact tracing at the school with the affected individual and the school administration.
• The public health authorities determine the level of risk depending on the type of contact with the affected individual and issue recommendations/instructions to the school administration.

The public health authorities

Once they conclude their investigation, the public health authorities issue instructions which may include an isolation period (usually 14 days) for certain individuals depending on the contact with the affected individual.

The school administration and the public health authorities

• All parents and school staff are automatically informed by the school administration once a case of COVID‑19 is confirmed in a school
• The public health authorities will issue letters with specific instructions to the individuals who have been in close contact with the affected individual if they are considered at-risk after investigation.  If no letter is received, it means that it was determined that there is no risk.

The public health authorities

The public health authorities will issue the necessary recommendations and indicate whether a class should be closed in order to prevent transmission. This measure may be extended to students on the bus or using daycare services who may have been in contact with the affected student.

The public health authorities

It is possible that intervention measures may be intensified based on the public health authorities’ analysis of virus transmission in the school and on the epidemiological factors specific to the school or region.  Based on this analysis that goes far beyond the number of cases declared in a school, the public health authorities might decide that it is best to close a school. The EMSB can only make such a decision based on a recommendation from the public health authorities. 

Sometimes, there are longer delays before receiving instructions from the public health authorities.  While awaiting for instructions and in order to prevent transmission, as a precautionary measure, schools have been asked to send home/isolate a group or certain individuals who may have been in contact with the affected person. This precautionary measure may be extended to students on the bus or using daycare service. Once the public health authorities issue their recommendations, the school administration will confirm which individuals, if any, need to stay home and the duration of the isolation period.

• Students will remain in a single stable class group, without any physical distancing required between students within that group.
• There will be assigned seating on school buses, with one student per bench wherever possible. All students in Grade 5 through Secondary V must continue to wear a face covering on school buses.
• Special pedagogical projects, such as Sports-études and Arts-études programs, will continue only within a stable class group. If it is necessary for students from different groups to come together, a 2-metre physical distance must be maintained between these students at all times. No group activities may be carried out while students are gathered together. Matches, games and competitions will not be permitted.
• Lunch can be eaten in the classroom or in the cafeteria, with a 2-metre physical distance between stable class groups.
• Professional services (e.g. remedial education) can continue to be offered to students either individually or in groups of no more than six students. If any of these six students come from different class groups, a 2-metre physical distance is required.
• Staff members must wear a procedural mask in common areas, in staff rooms and outside on school grounds.
• All extracurricular activities and educational field trips are suspended.

• Daycare services will be offered in stable class groups or subgroups, separated by a 2-metre distance and/or physical barriers.

The Ministère de l'Éducation du Québec (MEQ) has cancelled all Ministry Exams for the 2020-2021 school year. Following this decision, the EMSB has also decided to cancel school board year-end exams.

Yes, High School students will be expected in class until June 23, 2021. This decision was made at the English School Boards Director General’s table following the decision made by MEQ to cancel Ministry Exams in June. Evaluations will be taking place during this class time. The EMSB will be creating a bank of questions that teachers can use to evaluate their students.

Individual schools will notify parents, students and staff if someone within the school tests positive for COVID-19. This notification will come in the form of a general statement to ensure that confidentiality is maintained. Concurrently, Santé Publique will begin its investigation and provide the school and individual(s) affected with further instructions.

The Ministry of Education announced that students who have a medical note confirming that they or a family member have a health problem will be entitled to online learning from home. 

If you feel that you or your child has a valid medical reason to request an exemption, please consult with your family doctor. Medical professionals are the only individuals who will be able to indicate what is or is not considered a valid medical exemption for your child. 

For more information, please visit: https://www.quebec.ca/en/education/back-to-school-plan-fall-COVID-19/ 

As per the recent Ministry of Education directives, students who have a medical note confirming that they, or a household member, have a health condition that makes them vulnerable to COVID-19 may be entitled to online learning from home.

Parents are asked to complete a request form and provide a medical note to their child’s school. All medical notes must be dated as of August 10, 2020. Each request will then be forwarded to the school board for final approval.

Once the request is approved, the EMSB will contact the parent with all pertinent information. The EMSB will offer education at a distance in order to ensure that each child continues to receive quality instruction.

We ask and expect the parent to contact the COVID-19 line (1 877 644-4545) and follow the instructions provided to them.  If a parent is to be tested, the other household members can continue their regular activities while monitoring their symptoms and report to work or attend school. 

Anyone showing symptoms should call 1 877 644-4545 and follow the instructions.  Parents must contact the school and communicate the information obtained.  If testing is required, the student must stay home while awaiting results.  If positive, he/she will be instructed to stay home for a pre-determined period (usually 10 days).  If negative and the student was not in contact with a positive case of COVID-19, then he/she can return to school once the symptoms have improved.  If the student was in contact with a person who has COVID-19, then he/she will have to stay home for a pre-determined period (usually 14 days). 

The Ministry of Education has provided our schools with all the necessary personal protective equipment as per the guidelines of Santé Publique and CNESST. This equipment includes: masks, visors, gloves and gowns.

Additional products such as washable masks, hand sanitizer and disinfectant will be supplied by the EMSB.

The Ministry of Education has provided extra funding to the EMSB for these products and they will also reimburse schools and centres, should they need to purchase more throughout the school year.

To ensure accountability, all expenses related to COVID-19 is being recorded and reported to the Ministry of Education.

Before students and staff returned to school, all caretakers received a training session on sanitary measures to be implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, required preventative disinfection measures, and proper tools and methods on how they are should be used. When possible, extra caretaking staff will be assigned and sent to schools and centers to assist the preventative disinfection in addition to the regular caretaking staff.

When a COVID-19 case is confirmed, Santé Publique takes charge of the situation. With the help of the school, who keeps an attendance/close contact registry, Santé Publique will instruct the school on the steps to be taken and who will be contacted (close contacts). The results of the Santé Publique investigation will make it possible to determine whether the people who have been in contact with the symptomatic person will be asked to isolate for a set duration of time and when they can return to school or continue to self-isolate for a longer period of time, if starting to exhibit symptoms. 

If a student has tested positive for COVID-19, Santé Publique will investigate the case and send home the student(s) that could be at risk. It is not necessarily all the students within a classroom that will be sent home. 

Students at home will be treated as any student who is home sick in any other circumstance. Work will be provided. Children who cannot return to school due to health issues will continue to receive an online education at home and a medical note will be required. More information will follow once we receive updated directives from the Ministry of Education and Santé Publique.

Students and staff will be responsible for the validation of their health on a daily basis. Parents will have to be responsible to validate the health of their children on a daily basis and to communicate any symptoms to the school. 

Students or staff members with COVID-19 symptoms will not enter the school. Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 will have to comply with a 14-day isolation period. 

Administrators will receive training on how to react to any potential case of COVID-19 before the start of classes. 

Parents will have to keep their children at home if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms (fever, difficulty breathing, coughing) until they can confirm that it is not COVID-19 related. If students and staff respect the social and physical distancing rules as well as practicing frequent hand washing and proper respiration etiquette, the risk should be low.  Parents and schools are jointly responsible to raise awareness when it comes to proper hygiene.   

Based on past experience, albeit on a smaller scale, we had no reported cases of COVID-19 in our emergency daycares and in the schools that we reopened in the spring.  On a positive note, the reopening of the Mackay Centre and Philip E. Layton Schools with the most vulnerable students was a success a positive experience for the students who returned.

Furthermore, sanitation measures are being implemented in schools, as per Santé Publique recommendations. The Material Resources Department will be responsible to ensure that regular and appropriate maintenance will take place.

Cleaning will be conducted by our trained staff and in accordance with disinfecting guidelines; washrooms will be disinfected at intervals depending on the frequency of use, and frequently touched surfaces will be disinfected (doorknobs, faucets, toilets, computers and pencils/pens).

At this time, we are not aware whether the Ministry of Education will reconsider their plans nor whether they will enforce any new directives for the start of the school year.

When a COVID-19 case is confirmed, Santé Publique takes charge of the situation. With the help of the school, who keeps an attendance/close contact registry, Santé Publique will instruct the school on the steps to be taken and who will be contacted (close contacts).

Decision to close a school belongs with Santé Publique.

The results of the Santé Publique investigation will make it possible to determine whether the people who have been in contact with the symptomatic person will be asked to isolate for a set duration of time and when they can return to the educational institution or continue to self-isolate for a longer period of time if starting to exhibit symptoms.

At this time there will not be any testing done in schools. Like the rest of the population, students who are experiencing symptoms must stay at home and contact a health care professional.

There are no restrictions on opening windows. Fans can be used as long as there are not directly facing individuals. Fans can face away from students and staff so as to let air circulate.

Washrooms will be cleaned and disinfected every day depending on the frequency of use.

Cafeterias tables and chairs will be disinfected before and after every use. Microwaves will not be available.

Door knobs, faucets, toilets, computers and commonly used equipment will be disinfected every day, depending on the traffic.

Schools will decide whether students eat at their desk or use the lunchroom. The number of supervising staff will be adjusted accordingly. The lunch periods may be adjusted to reduce and control movement and waiting line in cafeteria, if necessary and applicable. The use of pre-paid meal cards will be encouraged to promote cashless payments.

If students eat in their classroom, the students will clean and disinfect their desk before and after eating. If they use the lunchroom/cafeteria, students will remain in pods as much as possible and maintain a distance of 1m with students from other pods and 2m with lunch monitors and cafeteria staff. The tables will be cleaned and sanitized before, between and after meals by the cafeteria and caretaking staff.

The hot lunch and cafeteria services will be available.

Hand sanitizers will be available in each classroom but students may bring their own should they prefer.

Every school will operate differently and the individual school plans will be shared with parents the week before the start of the school year as school teams are still in the prep stages.

Regular cleaning will be conducted by our trained staff and in accordance with disinfecting guidelines; washrooms will be disinfected at regular intervals depending on the frequency of use, and frequently touched surfaces will be disinfected (door knobs, faucets, toilets, computers and pencils/pens).

Students in bathrooms must respect the 1m distance and max occupancy may be established to ensure compliance with the social distancing measures.

Plexiglass is already being installed where required when physical distancing is difficult or not possible. In addition, all schools will have movable plexiglass panels to use where and when the need arises in the school.

First aiders will use gloves, a mask and eye protection (goggles or visor) and a gown, if necessary. All our schools are equipped with a defibrillator to be used in place of CPR. Each school has trained staff in first aid.

If a student is tested positive, the Santé Publique will investigate the case and send home students that could be at risk.  It is not necessarily all the students within a classroom will be sent home.

Students at home will be treated as any student who is home sick in any other circumstance.  Work will be provided.

Each school will develop their own plan for recess. The plan is dependent on the population of the school and the size of the schoolyard.

As much as possible, the children will be required to stay within their class group during recess.   

Students from the same class do not have to follow physical distancing guidelines. However, the 1 metre physical distancing rule will have to be maintained between students from different classes. 

Each school will develop their own plan for recess, depending on the population of the school and the size of the schoolyard. Schools that can ensure proper social distancing outside due to a large schoolyard and small population will not have to stagger their recess times. Schools that cannot ensure proper social distancing will stagger recess times.  

If a student does not have a code as a result of an incomplete assessment, he or she should have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) where the adaptations and/or modifications are in place in order to support the student in their learning.  

The Student Services Department works in close collaboration with individual school administration to ensure that proper support measures are in place. Student Services professionals will prioritize the students that were on the assessment list prior to March 2020 and they will be in the schools to conduct their assessments. 

Furthermore, the Ministry of Education announced that the provincial government will provide an additional $18 million to school boards across Quebec to facilitate the hiring of 350 new professionals. This added funding should help accelerate the process.

Homeschooling in Quebec is managed by the Direction de l’enseignement à la maison (DEM) which is part of the Ministry of Education. Parents must apply to home school their children via the government’s website http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/en/school-boards/support-and-assistance/homeschooling/

The contact information is: 

Direction de l’enseignement à la maison
Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur
600, rue Fullum, 11^e étage
Montréal (Québec) H2K 4L1

514-787-3583 ext. 5265
1-866-747-6626
Fax: 514-864-8921

Parents can apply to home school their child(ren) at any time during the year.

Once the DEM has approved the application, parents can request certain services (e.g. textbooks, evaluations, diagnostic services from a psychologist or speech and language therapist or an occupational therapist or a special education consultant) from their local school board or service center.

Based on the Ministry of Education directives, it is compulsory for all students to be physically present at school, unless they are exempt because of a medical condition, note that a medical note must be provided.

For parents who want to keep their children at home there is the option of homeschooling.  If the Ministry of Education changes its directives and allows parents to choose whether or not to send their children to school, we will have to plan accordingly.

Children who cannot return to school due to health issues, will continue to receive an education at home. This will be extended to parents and grandparents provided they share the same address (proof of residence may be required).

There are currently no online teaching options available, unless the student has a medical condition and provides a medical note.  If there is another school closure, teachers will be providing distance learning. 

The professionals from the Student Services Department will continue to ensure that the services for the students with special needs will be maintained in school and online.  The Student Services Department multidisciplinary team assigned to each schools will continue to have regular meetings with the school team.

In the fall, schools should leverage one Learning Management System (LMS). Google Classroom and/or Microsoft Teams will be the only LMS that the Educational Services Department will support. The reasoning behind choosing one LMS is:

• A single access point to discussion threads and assigned work.
• A single programme to store all students’ work in a paperless format.
• A tracking mechanism to identify students struggling with assigned tasks.
• Simplified grading features.

The Ministry of Education does not dictate learning platforms used by school boards. The Ministry of Education may request a "Teams" meeting when speaking with EMSB management, for example, but does not get involved in the choice of learning platforms.  

In the Youth Sector, the EMSB predominantly uses Google Classroom and will now also use "Meet", which is the videoconferencing/chat tool that works seamlessly with Classroom. With the availability of Google Meet, the use of Zoom and Teams as video-conferencing tools are no longer needed.

In the Adult Sector, however, the learning and communications/collaboration platform used is Microsoft Teams.

Will all schools be following a standard online teaching protocol?

• Fixed number of hours of instruction per teacher/subject dependent on grade?
• Requirement for all subjects to be taught, as in a regular school week?
• How will tests/assessments be undertaken?

If online teaching needs to be reinstated at a school, within a class or a bubble group, we ask that you impose a minimum number of hours per core subject required, based on grade level. Will you do that?

It will be more structured and a minimum number of hours depending on the subject and grade level seems reasonable.

It will be strongly recommended that Google Classroom and/or Microsoft Teams are set-up in an aim to develop a routine for both teachers and students. However, that being said, we must allow teachers some flexibility depending on grade level, etc.

The EMSB must also adhere to Canada’s copyright laws, hence posting of workbook material may not be possible. The EMSB has begun discussions with the various publishers that we collaborate with to determine how to best support the students. Example PEARSON/ERPI has informed us that schools who buy a workbook will receive a code to access electronic version (It will be given directly to the schools). 

The school board can currently accommodate 1500 homeschoolers. Should an increase in homeschooling requests require us to revisit the number of staff members looking after this dossier, we will do so at the time.

Note that homeschooling is conducted by parents and not a teacher. Please follow this link for all homeschooling documents: http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/en/school-boards/support-and-assistance/homeschooling/

This would not be possible as the student would not have been assigned to a class nor have been provided with a schedule to follow.

Yes they can change their mind, but registration would not be automatic. Parents would need to contact their local school and register or in some cases re-register their child.

Provided that the program the student applied for has not been revised, if a student qualified they should not be required to write another entrance exam or audition to gain re-entry.

Yes, they will be used as long as the surfaces are properly sterilized between each use. The proper products are available to schools.

No more than two students can be seated on the same bench, bringing the number of students who can be on board a school bus at the same time to 48. 

• Siblings should be seated together.
• The same two students should remain seated together on the same bench every day, if possible.
• Wearing face-coverings while in the vehicle is strongly recommended for students from preschool to grade 4, inclusively.  It is mandatory for students in grade 5 and 6 and secondary school. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer may be made available to students at the entrance of the vehicle.
• The vehicle will be fully cleaned after transporting each group of students.

School bus drivers will have access to the necessary personal protective equipment (e.g. mask, visor). The installation of a physical Plexiglas barrier could be an additional option to ensure everyone’s safety. 

If they are able to bring their children to school themselves, parents will once again be encouraged to do so.

Before the first day of school, if there is enough space on the bus, all students who are eligible for busing will be assigned a bus pass.

On August 24, a second transportation survey will be sent out to parents asking them if they wish to request an accommodation bus pass for their child(ren). If there is enough space on the bus, these students should be receiving an accommodation bus pass after September 30^th. If there is not enough space on the bus for all the requests submitted, a selection of students will be required, younger students will have priority over older students.

Schools will be implementing safety procedures for the drop off area in the morning and after school. The school administrator will be communicating with parents on how to proceed for the drop off / pick up area.

Parents can register their child(ren) in the BASE program in the month of August.

As of July 13th, anyone travelling by public transportation must wear a mask. To this date, the STM has not added extra busing services during morning and afternoon runs.

Yes, these programs will continue. The same safety guidelines as during the day will be respected.

Whenever possible, the groups will be maintained during daycare and during extracurricular activities.  If this is not possible, the 1-metre distance between students will have to be respected.  

No more than two students can be seated on the same bench.  This directive ensures the 1-metre distancing rule between students.  For children in the same household, three (3) students per bench is permitted.

Presently, 40 teachers have requested to be exempt. To date, the EMSB has granted 30 exemptions, and presently 17 teachers are on preventive maternity leave and are being re-assigned to the virtual school.

This represents 1% of the teaching staff.

What plans are in place to minimize the movement of service providers (psychologists, childcare workers, speech language pathologists, etc.) and substitute teachers from one school to another?

Most professionals will work with school teams at a distance. Assessments of students can take place. If the physical distance of 2 meters cannot be respected, the staff member must wear the appropriate protective equipment, a procedure mask and eye protection (e.g. safety glasses or visor).

Portable Plexiglas’s will be available in the schools and can be used by the professionals or any other staff member who comes in close contact with students (i.e. Secretary who gives out the late slips).

Will the schools have specialists (childcare workers, speech language pathologist, OT, behaviour techs) in the class with the teachers?

Sp. Ed Techs and Childcare attendants will be in the classes with the students. They will be assigned to the same classroom and will wear protective equipment if the 2-meter physical distance rule cannot be applied. For the professionals assigned to more than 1 school, they will be available at a distance in order to avoid movement from one school to another.

Families should register their children in a school within their own municipality as each school board serves its own territory. However, in certain circumstances, families may apply for an Intra-Board Agreement from their regional school board allowing them to register their child out of their territory. 

Children who are ineligible for instruction in English under the Charter of the French language may receive home schooling in English, as these provisions do not apply to them. However, home schooling in English does not make a child eligible for schooling in English in public schools or in private educational institutions accredited for the purposes of subsidies under the Act respecting private education.

Visit the Home Schooling section of our website for more information on the application and evaluation process.

Home Schooling

To register your child with the English Montreal School Board an original long version birth certificate bearing the parents' names is required by the Ministry. You can obtain information regarding Quebec birth certificates by contacting the following office:

Le Directeur de l'état civil
2050 Bleury Street 6^th floor 
Montreal, Quebec
(514) 864-3900
1-800-567-3900

Website

For children born outside of Quebec, you must contact the Division of Vital Statistics where the child was born.

All children of permanent residents must attend French school according to the Charter of the French language. Children of permanent residents may be eligible if they meet the qualifications for a special exception or temporary residents.

Special Exceptions Temporary Residents

The Charter of the French Language is available online at the Légis Québec website for more information:

Charter of the French Language

All children of refugees must attend French school according to the Charter of the French language. Unless they qualify as a special exception.

Special Exceptions

The following is considered proof of Canadian citizenship:

• Canadian birth certificate
• Valid Canadian passport
• Canadian citizenship card or document.