1. Introduction
In the introduction to the 2006 worldwide survey of departments of
education the North American Council for Online Learning (later
the International Association for K-12 Online Learning or
iNACOL) indicated that “research has been done on several virtual
schools in North America; however, little information is available
about current K-12 e-learning initiatives across the world” (Powell
& Patrick, 2006, p. 1). At the time, based on the literature on K-12
e-learning a slightly revised quote could also have accurately apply
to North America – ‘research has been done on several virtual
schools in the United States; however, little information is available
about current K-12 e-learning initiatives in the rest of North
America.’ When the State of the Nation: K-12 e-Learning in
Canada was first published in 2008, the vast majority of literature
and research about K-12 e-learning was still focused on the United
States. This annual study was the first of many steps that
researchers took, and are continuing to take, to address the lack of
information about K-12 e-learning in Canada.
Materials and methods
The goals of this study are to address the following questions:
1. How is K-12 distance, online, and blended learning governed in
each province, territory, and federally?
2. What is the level of K-12 distance, online, and blended learning
activity occurring in each province, territory, and federally?
The methodology utilized to collect the data for the annual study
included:
• a survey that was sent to each of the Ministries of Education,
• follow-up interviews to clarify or expand on any of the responses
contained in the survey,
• an analysis of documents from the Ministry of Education, often
available in online format, and
• follow-up interviews with key stakeholders in many of the
jurisdictions.
In addition to the data collection for the provincial, territorial, and
federal profiles, the researchers also undertook an individual
program survey that was sent to contacts from all of the K-12 e-
learning programs across Canada identified by the researchers.
Nature of Regulation Types of Programs
Distance & Online Learning Participation
Distance & Online Learning Programs
Key Takeaways
• the data for participation in distance and online learning
has been getting better each year
• the data for blended learning is unreliable and represents
only a poor estimate
• Ontario (ON) has the highest number of students
participating in distance and online learning, but ON is
also the most populated province
• both the number and proportion of students enrolled in
distance and online learning in ON will continue to
increase as the e-learning mandate rolls out
• Alberta and British Columbia (BC) consistently have the
highest per capita student involvement in distance and
online learning
• most jurisdictions simply reference distance education in
their legislation
• BC and Nova Scotia are the most regulated
• provinces and territories with a smaller K-12 populations
(i.e., Northern and Eastern regions) tend to offer
centralized provincial programs either run by their
Ministry of Education or contracted to a school authority
• ON, Saskatchewan, and BC have primarily district-based
programs; while Québec, Manitoba, and Alberta have a
mix of provincial and school district programs
• however, this has been changing in recent years as more
jurisdictions are becoming more and more centralized
• continues to be great confusion between traditional
distance and online learning with remote learning and
emergency remote learning
• due to this confusion, along with other factors, K-12
distance and online learning is becoming more political
Michael K. Barbour, Touro University California – mkbarbour@gmail.com
Randy LaBonte, Canadian eLearning Network – rlabonte@canelearn.net
Recent Reports
Barbour, M. K., & LaBonte, R. (2022). State of the nation: K-12 e-learning
in Canada. Canadian E-Learning Network.
Barbour, M. K., LaBonte, R., & Mongrain, J. (2022). L’état de
l’apprentissage électronique de la maternelle à la 12e année au Canada.
Canadian E-Learning Network.
LaBonte, R., Barbour, M. K., & Mongrain, J. (2022). Teaching during times
of turmoil: Ensuring Continuity of learning during school closures.
Canadian eLearning Network.
LaBonte, R., Barbour, M. K., & Mongrain, J. (2022). Enseigner en temps
de crise : Assurer la continuité de l'apprentissage pendant la fermeture
des écoles. Canadian eLearning Network.
Barbour, M. K., LaBonte, R., Kelly, K., Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B.,
Trust, T., Bond, A., & Hill, P. (2020). Understanding pandemic
pedagogy: Differences between emergency remote, remote, and online
teaching. Canadian eLearning Network.
Archibald, D., Barbour, M. K., Leary, H., Wilson, E. V., & Ostashewski, N.
(2020). Teacher education and K-12 online learning. Canadian E-
Learning Network.
Further information
Project Website – https://k12sotn.ca