Council of Ontario Directors of Education (CODE) replaces OPSBA and OCSTA as central bargaining employer agency for English-language school boards

Plain-language summary · AI-assisted · not legal advice

The CODE (Council of Ontario Directors of Education) is now designated as the employer bargaining agency for all English-language public district school boards, English-language separate district school boards, and boards established under section 68 of the Education Act—roles previously held by OPSBA and OCSTA respectively. A new internal bargaining committee within the CODE will oversee and direct its collective bargaining activities, with authority to make by-laws governing its processes; the Minister can override those by-laws by order. Transition provisions require OPSBA and OCSTA to co-operate with the CODE's assumption of these functions, and the Minister can order transfers of rights, contracts, employees, records and other assets to the CODE. The Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association retains a defined observer role at central bargaining tables for English-language separate district school boards and keeps the right to raise denominational rights concerns. The law also now explicitly states that nothing in it makes any party other than a school board—including an employer bargaining agency or the Crown—an employer of school board employees under any legislation or at common law. School boards, union bargaining agencies, and the CODE's predecessor associations (OPSBA and OCSTA) all need to understand revised roles, obligations, and liability protections.

Who this affects: English-language public district school boards · English-language separate district school boards · Ontario Public School Boards' Association (OPSBA) · Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association (OCSTA) · Council of Ontario Directors of Education (CODE) · teacher and education worker bargaining agents