Latest news with #specialneeds
CTV News
10 hours ago
- Health
- CTV News
Canada's Wonderland's new accessibility pass changes the experience for her child with autism, mom says
Every summer for the better part of a decade, Monica Matheson would take her daughter Jessica to Canada's Wonderland. But Jessica's mother says a recent change to the accessibility passes issued at the amusement park could dramatically increase the time her daughter will have to wait between rides, potentially leading to meltdowns that will colour their experience. Matheson says Wonderland is her 14-year-old's absolute favourite place to go—a place she constantly asks about. 'Jessica is a sensory seeker. So, she seeks any activity that's going to put great movement on her body, so she loves any ride,' Matheson explained to CTV News Toronto. With Jessica's autism—coupled with her secondary intellectual disability—Matheson says her non-verbal daughter behaves like a two-year-old and requires 24-hour supervision, needing assistance in all day-to-day activities with everything from eating meals to putting on clothes. In previous years, Matheson says they would use the 'Plan Your Day' accessibility pass while visiting Wonderland, which would permit them to go on any ride every 30 minutes. That pass, however, has been replaced this year with a new accessibility pass which allows holders to proceed to their next ride based on current wait times. While the pass doesn't require those holding it to wait in line, Matheson suggested that it could still be a significant change for her daughter. 'It (the previous pass) gave us time. It gave her a choice in her rides, so she could leave the ride and choose the next one she wanted to go to and it was also perfect for times Jessica felt overwhelmed,' Matheson said. 'If there (were) too many people there, if there was something noisy going on, sometimes we need to find a quiet corner to go to and calm her down, so it really helped.' 'One blanket pass for all disabilities' On May 12, the family went to the park to spend the day expecting the same accommodation that they have always received. Matheson says she reached out to the park days before to arrange to pick up their accessible passes—something she had done over the last few years—but never received a response, prompting the decision to head to the park a bit earlier to speak with customer service. 'When we went in to get the pass, we were told that they are no longer offering that, that they have one blanket pass for all disabilities,' Matheson said, noting a woman who had a bad knee and physically couldn't stand in line was offered the same accommodations. A spokesperson for Canada's Wonderland told CTV News Toronto they now offer the Attraction Accessibility Pass (AAP) to guests who have mobility or cognitive impairments and difficulties waiting in queues. 'The primary change is how return times are assigned. Previously, return times were issued in standard 30-minute intervals. Under the updated AAP, return times are now based on the current wait times for selected attractions,' Grace Peacock, the regional director of public relations for Six Flags, told CTV News Toronto via email. It should be noted that Cedar Fair, which previously owned Canada's Wonderland, merged with Six Flags in July 2024. With this pass, Peacock says guests do not have to physically wait in line and can visit other parts of the park or take time to relax until their designated return time. But for Jessica, it's not about standing in line—it's about how long it takes to wait to go on the next ride, which Matheson says can lead to 'meltdowns.' This can involve crying, hitting, pulling or running away, and throwing things. 'Jessica (…) and a lot of kids or a lot of people with autism get fixated on things,' Matheson said. 'Jessica is unable to transition herself to another activity until she's been on the Vortex (for example), because she's so fixated.' Matheson says she tried explaining this to the park that day, but they did not listen. 'I asked about the pass and they said, 'Your options are to take this pass—this blanket pass for everybody—or don't come to the park,'' Matheson said, adding they ultimately were refused an accessibility ride pass for Jessica that day. Since they were already at the park, Matheson said they could not leave the park without causing her daughter 'extreme distress'—but Jessica still experienced several meltdowns. In one video reviewed by CTV News Toronto, Matheson's daughter can be seen crying, burying her face into her hands before looking back out at the park and letting out a sigh. 'Several times when she ran up the exit, she was met with staff who were annoyed that we were up there, despite seeing us struggle with her, demanding that we leave immediately and go to the other line,' Matheson said in a letter to one of the park's managers. After their day there, Matheson said she contacted another Wonderland manager—again explaining her position—but was only offered the Attraction Accessibility Pass or a refund for their existing season's passes, as the accommodations they were asking for were no longer available. 'I asked them for the reason for it, and if the pass was causing any disruptions to their businesses or anything like that, to figure out why this pass had just been taken completely away,' Matheson said. 'I asked to both managers and they both said, 'It's Six Flags.'' And when Matheson asked if her concerns would be escalated to Six Flags, she said that she was told that while they would be escalated, 'nobody's going to respond to you and nobody cares.' Peacock said they have since reviewed the matter internally, and said they believe 'this matter is the result of a misunderstanding.' 'We remain open to further conversation with the guest to resolve the issue,' Peacock wrote. Accessible accommodations to be made to the point of 'undue hardship' Under the Human Rights Code, it is the obligation of every organization—from schools to amusement parks—to provide proper accommodations to fit a person's disability needs to the point of undue hardship. 'That's a very, very high bar,' Ilinca Stefan, staff lawyer at ARCH Disability Law Centre, said of the provisions in the code more generally. 'There's only two appropriate justifications for discrimination and not providing an accommodation and that's either financial (…) or health and safety reasons.' Citing third-party preferences or business inconvenience are not valid reasons, and are not adequate considerations for an organization to claim undue hardship, according to the Ontario Human Rights Commission. And on top of that, accommodations need to be individualized to fit that person's specific needs. CTV News Toronto spoke with Bruce McIntosh, director of the Ontario Autism Coalition, to discuss the accommodations offered to Matheson. McIntosh said he was a 'little bit mystified' as to why they would discontinue that particular pass, when it had been something Wonderland provided to parkgoers previously. 'The reasons to offer the accommodation are going to vary from person to person but it's just a thing that we do for people to make their disability to stop being an issue, a problem,' Bruce McIntosh, director of the Ontario Autism Coalition, said. 'People with disabilities should have the same access to activities and buildings and transit and whatever else as a person who is not disabled exactly.' Matheson says she and her daughter are going to try the AAP sometime soon, adding she will carefully document their day and Jessica's experience then, in hopes they can better understand the accommodations her daughter needs and bring back the pass that had worked for them for years. 'I just want them to work with me,' Matheson said.
CTV News
12 hours ago
- Health
- CTV News
Canada's Wonderland's new accessibility pass changes the experience for her child with autism, mom says
Every summer for the better part of a decade, Monica Matheson would take her daughter Jessica to Canada's Wonderland. But Jessica's mother says a recent change to the accessibility passes issued at the amusement park could dramatically increase the time her daughter will have to wait between rides, potentially leading to meltdowns that will colour their experience. Matheson says Wonderland is her 14-year-old's absolute favourite place to go—a place she constantly asks about. 'Jessica is a sensory seeker. So, she seeks any activity that's going to put great movement on her body, so she loves any ride,' Matheson explained to CTV News Toronto. With Jessica's autism—coupled with her secondary intellectual disability—Matheson says her non-verbal daughter behaves like a two-year-old and requires 24-hour supervision, needing assistance in all day-to-day activities with everything from eating meals to putting on clothes. In previous years, Matheson says they would use the 'Plan Your Day' accessibility pass while visiting Wonderland, which would permit them to go on any ride every 30 minutes. That pass, however, has been replaced this year with a new accessibility pass which allows holders to proceed to their next ride based on current wait times. While the pass doesn't require those holding it to wait in line, Matheson suggested that it could still be a significant change for her daughter. 'It (the previous pass) gave us time. It gave her a choice in her rides, so she could leave the ride and choose the next one she wanted to go to and it was also perfect for times Jessica felt overwhelmed,' Matheson said. 'If there (were) too many people there, if there was something noisy going on, sometimes we need to find a quiet corner to go to and calm her down, so it really helped.' 'One blanket pass for all disabilities' On May 12, the family went to the park to spend the day expecting the same accommodation that they have always received. Matheson says she reached out to the park days before to arrange to pick up their accessible passes—something she had done over the last few years—but never received a response, prompting the decision to head to the park a bit earlier to speak with customer service. 'When we went in to get the pass, we were told that they are no longer offering that, that they have one blanket pass for all disabilities,' Matheson said, noting a woman who had a bad knee and physically couldn't stand in line was offered the same accommodations. A spokesperson for Canada's Wonderland told CTV News Toronto they now offer the Attraction Accessibility Pass (AAP) to guests who have mobility or cognitive impairments and difficulties waiting in queues. 'The primary change is how return times are assigned. Previously, return times were issued in standard 30-minute intervals. Under the updated AAP, return times are now based on the current wait times for selected attractions,' Grace Peacock, the regional director of public relations for Six Flags, told CTV News Toronto via email. It should be noted that Cedar Fair, which previously owned Canada's Wonderland, merged with Six Flags in July 2024. With this pass, Peacock says guests do not have to physically wait in line and can visit other parts of the park or take time to relax until their designated return time. But for Jessica, it's not about standing in line—it's about how long it takes to wait to go on the next ride, which Matheson says can lead to 'meltdowns.' This can involve crying, hitting, pulling or running away, and throwing things. 'Jessica (…) and a lot of kids or a lot of people with autism get fixated on things,' Matheson said. 'Jessica is unable to transition herself to another activity until she's been on the Vortex (for example), because she's so fixated.' Matheson says she tried explaining this to the park that day, but they did not listen. 'I asked about the pass and they said, 'Your options are to take this pass—this blanket pass for everybody—or don't come to the park,'' Matheson said, adding they ultimately were refused an accessibility ride pass for Jessica that day. Since they were already at the park, Matheson said they could not leave the park without causing her daughter 'extreme distress'—but Jessica still experienced several meltdowns. In one video reviewed by CTV News Toronto, Matheson's daughter can be seen crying, burying her face into her hands before looking back out at the park and letting out a sigh. 'Several times when she ran up the exit, she was met with staff who were annoyed that we were up there, despite seeing us struggle with her, demanding that we leave immediately and go to the other line,' Matheson said in a letter to one of the park's managers. After their day there, Matheson said she contacted another Wonderland manager—again explaining her position—but was only offered the Attraction Accessibility Pass or a refund for their existing season's passes, as the accommodations they were asking for were no longer available. 'I asked them for the reason for it, and if the pass was causing any disruptions to their businesses or anything like that, to figure out why this pass had just been taken completely away,' Matheson said. 'I asked to both managers and they both said, 'It's Six Flags.'' And when Matheson asked if her concerns would be escalated to Six Flags, she said that she was told that while they would be escalated, 'nobody's going to respond to you and nobody cares.' Peacock said they have since reviewed the matter internally, and said they believe 'this matter is the result of a misunderstanding.' 'We remain open to further conversation with the guest to resolve the issue,' Peacock wrote. Accessible accommodations to be made to the point of 'undue hardship' Under the Human Rights Code, it is the obligation of every organization—from schools to amusement parks—to provide proper accommodations to fit a person's disability needs to the point of undue hardship. 'That's a very, very high bar,' Ilinca Stefan, staff lawyer at ARCH Disability Law Centre, said of the provisions in the code more generally. 'There's only two appropriate justifications for discrimination and not providing an accommodation and that's either financial (…) or health and safety reasons.' Citing third-party preferences or business inconvenience are not valid reasons, and are not adequate considerations for an organization to claim undue hardship, according to the Ontario Human Rights Commission. And on top of that, accommodations need to be individualized to fit that person's specific needs. CTV News Toronto spoke with Bruce McIntosh, director of the Ontario Autism Coalition, to discuss the accommodations offered to Matheson. McIntosh said he was a 'little bit mystified' as to why they would discontinue that particular pass, when it had been something Wonderland provided to parkgoers previously. 'The reasons to offer the accommodation are going to vary from person to person but it's just a thing that we do for people to make their disability to stop being an issue, a problem,' Bruce McIntosh, director of the Ontario Autism Coalition, said. 'People with disabilities should have the same access to activities and buildings and transit and whatever else as a person who is not disabled exactly.' Matheson says she and her daughter are going to try the AAP sometime soon, adding she will carefully document their day and Jessica's experience then, in hopes they can better understand the accommodations her daughter needs and bring back the pass that had worked for them for years. 'I just want them to work with me,' Matheson said.
CTV News
15 hours ago
- Health
- CTV News
Canada's Wonderland is this child with autism's favourite place. But a new accessibility pass will change the experience, her mom says
Every summer for the better part of a decade, Monica Matheson would take her daughter Jessica to Canada's Wonderland. But Jessica's mother says a recent change to the accessibility passes issued at the amusement park could dramatically increase the time her daughter will have to wait between rides, potentially leading to meltdowns that will colour their experience. Matheson says Wonderland is her 14-year-old's absolute favourite place to go—a place she constantly asks about. 'Jessica is a sensory seeker. So, she seeks any activity that's going to put great movement on her body, so she loves any ride,' Matheson explained to CTV News Toronto. With Jessica's autism—coupled with her secondary intellectual disability—Matheson says her non-verbal daughter behaves like a two-year-old and requires 24-hour supervision, needing assistance in all day-to-day activities with everything from eating meals to putting on clothes. Jessica An image of Jessica at Canada's Wonderland. (Courtesy of Monica Matheson) In previous years, Matheson says they would use the 'Plan Your Day' accessibility pass while visiting Wonderland, which would permit them to go on any ride every 30 minutes. That pass, however, has been replaced this year with a new accessibility pass which allows holders to proceed to their next ride based on current wait times. While the pass doesn't require those holding it to wait in line, Matheson suggested that it could still be a significant change for her daughter. 'It (the previous pass) gave us time. It gave her a choice in her rides, so she could leave the ride and choose the next one she wanted to go to and it was also perfect for times of Jessica felt overwhelmed,' Matheson said. 'If there (were) too many people there, if there was something noisy going on, sometimes we need to find a quiet corner to go to and calm her down, so it really helped.' 'One blanket pass for all disabilities' On May 12, the family went to the park to spend the day expecting the same accommodation that they have always received. Matheson says she reached out to the park days before to arrange to pick up their accessible passes—something she had done over the last few years—but never received a response, prompting the decision to head to the park a bit earlier to speak with customer service. 'When we went in to get the pass, we were told that they are no longer offering that, that they have one blanket pass for all disabilities,' Matheson said, noting a woman who had a bad knee and physically couldn't stand in line was offered the same accommodations. A spokesperson for Canada's Wonderland told CTV News Toronto they now offer the Attraction Accessibility Pass (AAP) to guests with mobility or cognitive impairments and have difficulties waiting in queues. 'The primary change is how return times are assigned. Previously, return times were issued in standard 30-minute intervals. Under the updated AAP, return times are now based on the current wait times for selected attractions,' Grace Peacock, the regional director of public relations for Six Flags, told CTV News Toronto via email. It should be noted that Cedar Fair, which previously owned Canada's Wonderland, merged with Six Flags in July 2024. With this pass, Peacock says guests do not have to physically wait in line and can visit other parts of the park or take time to relax until their designated return time. But for Jessica, it's not about standing in line—it's about how long it takes to wait to go on the next ride, which Matheson says can lead to 'meltdowns.' This can involve crying, hitting, pulling or running away, and throwing things. 'Jessica (…) and a lot of kids or a lot of people with autism get fixated on things,' Matheson said. 'Jessica is unable to transition herself to another activity until she's been on the Vortex (for example), because she's so fixated.' Matheson says she tried explaining it to the park that day, but they did not listen. 'I asked about the pass and they said, 'Your options are to take this pass—this blanket pass for everybody—or don't come to the park,'' Matheson said, adding they ultimately were refused an accessibility ride pass for Jessica that day. Since they were already at the park, Matheson said they could not leave the park without causing her daughter 'extreme distress'—but Jessica still experienced several meltdowns. In one video reviewed by CTV News Toronto, Matheson's daughter can be seen crying, burying her face into her one of her hands before looking back out at the park and letting out a sigh. 'Several times when she ran up the exit, she was met with staff who were annoyed that we were up there, despite seeing us struggle with her, demanding that we leave immediately and go to the other line,' Matheson said in a letter to one of the park's managers. After their day there, Matheson said she contacted another Wonderland manager—again explaining her position—but was only offered the Attraction Accessibility Pass or a refund for their existing season's passes, as the accommodations they were asking for were no longer available. 'I asked them for the reason for it, and if the pass was causing any disruptions to their businesses or anything like that, to figure out why this pass had just been taken completely away,' Matheson said. 'I asked to both managers and they both said, 'It's Six Flags.'' And when Matheson asked if her concerns would be escalated to Six Flags, she said that she was told that while they would be escalated, 'nobody's going to respond to you and nobody cares.' Peacock said they have since reviewed the matter internally, and said they believe 'this matter is the result of a misunderstanding.' 'We remain open to further conversation with the guest to resolve the issue,' Peacock wrote. Accessible accommodations to be made to the point of 'undue hardship' Under the Human Rights Code, it is the obligation of every organization—from schools to amusement parks—to provide proper accommodations to fit a person's disability needs to the point of undue hardship. 'That's a very, very high bar,' Ilinca Stefan, staff lawyer at ARCH Disability Law Centre, said of the provisions in the code more generally. 'There's only two appropriate justifications for discrimination and not providing an accommodation and that's either financial (…) or health and safety reasons.' Citing third-party preferences or business inconvenience are not valid reasons, and are not adequate considerations for an organization to claim undue hardship, according to the Ontario Human Rights Commission. And on top of that, accommodations need to be individualized to fit that person's specific needs. When asked CTV News Toronto spoke with Bruce McIntosh, director of the Ontario Autism Coalition, to discuss the accommodations offered to Matheson, McIntosh said he was a 'little bit mystified' as to why they would discontinue that particular pass, when it had been something Wonderland provided to parkgoers previously. 'The reasons to offer the accommodation are going to vary from person to person but it's just a thing that we do for people to make their disability to stop being an issue, a problem,' Bruce McIntosh, director of the Ontario Autism Coalition, said. 'People with disabilities should have the same access to activities and building and transit and whatever else as a person who is not disabled exactly.' Matheson says she and her daughter are going to try the AAP sometime soon, adding she will carefully document their day and Jessica's experience then, in hopes they can better understand the accommodations her daughter needs and bring back the pass that had worked for them for years. 'I just want them to work with me,' Matheson said.
CTV News
16 hours ago
- Health
- CTV News
Canada's Wonderland is this child with autism's favourite place to go. The park's new accessibility pass will change her experience, her mom says
Every summer for the better part of a decade, Monica Matheson would take her daughter Jessica to Canada's Wonderland. But Jessica's mother says a recent change to the accessibility passes issued at the amusement park could dramatically increase the time her daughter will have to wait between rides, potentially leading to meltdowns that will colour their experience. Matheson says Wonderland is her 14-year-old's absolute favourite place to go—a place she constantly asks about. 'Jessica is a sensory seeker. So, she seeks any activity that's going to put great movement on her body, so she loves any ride,' Matheson explained to CTV News Toronto. With Jessica's autism—coupled with her secondary intellectual disability—Matheson says her non-verbal daughter behaves like a two-year-old and requires 24-hour supervision, needing assistance in all day-to-day activities with everything from eating meals to putting on clothes. Jessica An image of Jessica at Canada's Wonderland. (Courtesy of Monica Matheson) In previous years, Matheson says they would use the 'Plan Your Day' accessibility pass while visiting Wonderland, which would permit them to go on any ride every 30 minutes. That pass, however, has been replaced this year with a new accessibility pass which allows holders to proceed to their next ride based on current wait times. While the pass doesn't require those holding it to wait in line, Matheson suggested that it could still be a significant change for her daughter. 'It (the previous pass) gave us time. It gave her a choice in her rides, so she could leave the ride and choose the next one she wanted to go to and it was also perfect for times of Jessica felt overwhelmed,' Matheson said. 'If there (were) too many people there, if there was something noisy going on, sometimes we need to find a quiet corner to go to and calm her down, so it really helped.' 'One blanket pass for all disabilities' On May 12, the family went to the park to spend the day expecting the same accommodation that they have always received. Matheson says she reached out to the park days before to arrange to pick up their accessible passes—something she had done over the last few years—but never received a response, prompting the decision to head to the park a bit earlier to speak with customer service. 'When we went in to get the pass, we were told that they are no longer offering that, that they have one blanket pass for all disabilities,' Matheson said, noting a woman who had a bad knee and physically couldn't stand in line was offered the same accommodations. A spokesperson for Canada's Wonderland told CTV News Toronto they now offer the Attraction Accessibility Pass (AAP) to guests with mobility or cognitive impairments and have difficulties waiting in queues. 'The primary change is how return times are assigned. Previously, return times were issued in standard 30-minute intervals. Under the updated AAP, return times are now based on the current wait times for selected attractions,' Grace Peacock, the regional director of public relations for Six Flags, told CTV News Toronto via email. It should be noted that Cedar Fair, which previously owned Canada's Wonderland, merged with Six Flags in July 2024. With this pass, Peacock says guests do not have to physically wait in line and can visit other parts of the park or take time to relax until their designated return time. But for Jessica, it's not about standing in line—it's about how long it takes to wait to go on the next ride, which Matheson says can lead to 'meltdowns.' This can involve crying, hitting, pulling or running away, and throwing things. 'Jessica (…) and a lot of kids or a lot of people with autism get fixated on things,' Matheson said. 'Jessica is unable to transition herself to another activity until she's been on the Vortex (for example), because she's so fixated.' Matheson says she tried explaining it to the park that day, but they did not listen. 'I asked about the pass and they said, 'Your options are to take this pass—this blanket pass for everybody—or don't come to the park,'' Matheson said, adding they ultimately were refused an accessibility ride pass for Jessica that day. Since they were already at the park, Matheson said they could not leave the park without causing her daughter 'extreme distress'—but Jessica still experienced several meltdowns. In one video reviewed by CTV News Toronto, Matheson's daughter can be seen crying, burying her face into her one of her hands before looking back out at the park and letting out a sigh. 'Several times when she ran up the exit, she was met with staff who were annoyed that we were up there, despite seeing us struggle with her, demanding that we leave immediately and go to the other line,' Matheson said in a letter to one of the park's managers. After their day there, Matheson said she contacted another Wonderland manager—again explaining her position—but was only offered the Attraction Accessibility Pass or a refund for their existing season's passes, as the accommodations they were asking for were no longer available. 'I asked them for the reason for it, and if the pass was causing any disruptions to their businesses or anything like that, to figure out why this pass had just been taken completely away,' Matheson said. 'I asked to both managers and they both said, 'It's Six Flags.'' And when Matheson asked if her concerns would be escalated to Six Flags, she said that she was told that while they would be escalated, 'nobody's going to respond to you and nobody cares.' Peacock said they have since reviewed the matter internally, and said they believe 'this matter is the result of a misunderstanding.' 'We remain open to further conversation with the guest to resolve the issue,' Peacock wrote. Accessible accommodations to be made to the point of 'undue hardship' Under the Human Rights Code, it is the obligation of every organization—from schools to amusement parks—to provide proper accommodations to fit a person's disability needs to the point of undue hardship. 'That's a very, very high bar,' Ilinca Stefan, staff lawyer at ARCH Disability Law Centre, said of the provisions in the code more generally. 'There's only two appropriate justifications for discrimination and not providing an accommodation and that's either financial (…) or health and safety reasons.' Citing third-party preferences or business inconvenience are not valid reasons, and are not adequate considerations for an organization to claim undue hardship, according to the Ontario Human Rights Commission. And on top of that, accommodations need to be individualized to fit that person's specific needs. When asked CTV News Toronto spoke with Bruce McIntosh, director of the Ontario Autism Coalition, to discuss the accommodations offered to Matheson, McIntosh said he was a 'little bit mystified' as to why they would discontinue that particular pass, when it had been something Wonderland provided to parkgoers previously. 'The reasons to offer the accommodation are going to vary from person to person but it's just a thing that we do for people to make their disability to stop being an issue, a problem,' Bruce McIntosh, director of the Ontario Autism Coalition, said. 'People with disabilities should have the same access to activities and building and transit and whatever else as a person who is not disabled exactly.' Matheson says she and her daughter are going to try the AAP sometime soon, adding she will carefully document their day and Jessica's experience then, in hopes they can better understand the accommodations her daughter needs and bring back the pass that had worked for them for years. 'I just want them to work with me,' Matheson said.
CBC
a day ago
- Health
- CBC
Hundreds of Indigenous students to lose dedicated educational assistants under changes to Jordan's Principle
Social Sharing School boards say hundreds of educational assistants dedicated to Indigenous students in schools across the northeast are facing lay-offs next year triggered by recent funding changes that Indigenous Services Canada has made related to Jordan's Principle. Jordan's Principle is named after Jordan River Anderson, a Manitoba boy with multiple disabilities who died in hospital waiting for the province and Ottawa to decide who should pay for health supports that would allow him to go home. Following a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision, the federal government has provided some $10 billion in funding to ensure that First Nations children get equal access to public services. But concerned about reports of abuse of the funding, the Canadian government made sweeping changes including a review of its policies and procedures starting last February. "This will ensure more consistent and clearer policies and communications about the services First Nations children can access through Jordan's Principle and the required documentation to access those services and supports," it said in a bulletin. Now those changes are trickling down and being felt by families applying for dedicated educational assistants for Indigenous students in northern Ontario with special needs. Some 74 educational assistants may be laid off at the Huron Superior Catholic School Board, based in Sault Ste. Marie. Director of Education Fil Lettieri said that Indigenous Services Canada had informed schools across the country of a change in funding criteria for Jordan's principal applications as of April 1. "The criteria now is that it is no longer intended as an enhancement in support for students, but rather to to address unmet needs," he said. "And so in subsequent conversations with Indigenous Services Canada, they had indicated that school boards do receive provincial funding for special education and therefore unmet needs should be funded through that envelope, which they are, and which has always been our practice as a school board." Lettieri said some families of Indigenous students had applied for dedicated educational assistants through Jordan's Principle to "enhance" existing services. He said he's seen the number of applications for Jordan's Principle-funded educational assistants grow over the last few years from 22, to 74 this year, primarily due to more awareness among families seeking support. Lettieri said he feels for the families who are accustomed to the one-on-one help for their children, but is working with them to determine how best to provide board supports, which may be shared with other students. The union representing educational assistants at the board said the loss of 74 positions will be devastating to students. Crystal Krauter-Maki, the president of CUPE 4148, says this is another case in which Indigenous children are caught in the crossfire between levels of government, and this will worsen the understaffing crisis in schools across Ontario. Nogdawindamin Family and Community Services— the Indigenous child welfare agency for Sault Ste. Marie and the north shore of Lake Huron— says it's trying to help the families. "We are actively working to understand the full implications of these changes and to support families in navigating the updated application process," spokesperson Jonathan Boyer-Nolan said in a statement. "Our priority remains ensuring that Indigenous children receive the services they need to thrive, and we will continue to advocate for policies that uphold the principles of equity and fairness. While applications have always been made by the families on a year-to-year basis, Indigenous Services Canada says existing or previously-approved requests are not guaranteed to be renewed or approved. Melanie Gray, the superintendent of teaching and learning with the Near North District Board,said they've had "lots of conversations" with the federal government trying to understand some of the new requirements for Jordan's Principle funding. But she said a handful of students in their board, which covers the Nipissing and Parry Sound districts, are affected. The Rainbow District School Board, which runs English public schools in Sudbury area, said they had 80 Jordan's Principle-funded educational assistants, while the Sudbury Catholic District School Board has 18. Perhaps the biggest impact will be felt in the English public school board stretching from Hearst to Temagami, including Timmins and Temiskaming Shores. District School Board Ontario North East said there are almost 200 Jordan's Principle-funded educational assistants in their schools. "We are working hard to minimize the impact to students and families and maintain the positive momentum of achievement for students who self-identify as Indigenous," spokesperson Andreanne Denis said in a statement. "We are looking to allocate some additional educational assistants during the 2025-2026 to ease the transition of the reduction of this support from the federal government." As for Indigenous Service Canada, it says the changes are being made to help the long-term sustainability of Jordan's Principle. "Funding for school-related requests will only be approved if the requests can be clearly linked to the specific health, social or educational need of the First Nation child or if it is required as per the principle of substantive equality," reads a statement provided to CBC News. "Requests for First Nations children, whether on reserve or off reserve, can continue to be made to Jordan's Principle. Each request is reviewed on a case-by-case basis based on the needs of the children involved with the request."
