program component; o Has been lawfully admitted to Canada and is participating in an educator exchange program with a public school in British Columbia; o Has diplomatic status in Canada, or is carrying out official duties under the authority of the Visiting Forces Act297 Ontario Education Legislation In Ontario, elementary education includes Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8. Secondary school includes Grade 9 to Grade 12.298 Under Ontario’s Education Act, every person between the ages 6 and 18 is required to attend school, subject to few exceptions under the Act.299 The Education Act provides that temporary residents and persons with a study permit must pay a tuition fee to attend public schools.300 However, the Education Act also establishes exceptions to the obligation to pay fees to: • A participant in an educational exchange program under which a pupil of the board attends a school outside Canada without a fee; • A person who is a dependant within the meaning of the Visiting Forces Act (Canada); • A person if that person, his or her parent or someone else with lawful custody of him or her is in Canada: o Under a temporary resident permit (TRP), o Under a diplomatic, consular or official acceptance, or o Claiming refugee protection or having had such protection conferred; • A person if that person is awaiting determination of an application for permanent residence in Canada or an application for Canadian citizenship and his or her parent or someone else with lawful custody of him is a Canadian citizen resident in Ontario; • A person if his or her parent or someone else with lawful custody of him or her is in Canada: o Under a work permit or awaiting the determination of an application for a work permit, o As a permanent resident or is awaiting determination of an application for permanent residence in Canada, o As a religious worker authorized to work in Canada, o Is authorized to study in Canada and is a full-time student at a university, college or institution in Ontario, o In accordance with an agreement with a university outside Canada to teach at an Ibid. Ministry of Education, “Education Facts, 2013-2014” (22 December 2014), available at: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/educationFacts.html. 299 Ontario Education Act, supra note 69 at s. 21(1). Section 21(2) identifies when a person is not compelled to attend school. 300 Ibid., at s. 49(6); Calculation of Fees For Pupils for the 2014-2015 School Board Fiscal Year, O Reg 77/14, at s. 7, available at: http://canlii.ca/t/527jx. The regulation allows it to be set by the policy of specific school boards. As an example, the Trillium Lakelands District School Board has set the Tuition Fees for s. 49(6) students for the 2014/2015 school year at $1,075.90 per month and secondary students is $1,139.90 per month payable in advance. See Trillium Lakeland District School Board, “Tuition Fees 2014/2015”, available at: http://tldsb.ca/wpcontent/uploads/2013/07/Tuition-Fees-2014-15.pdf 297 298 63 63