All children living in Québec must attend school:
However, parents in Québec may choose to homeschool their children. Under the Education Act, a child who is approved to receive homeschooling may be exempt from compulsory school attendance.
General Education in Québec is given primarily in French. Under the Charter of the French language, however, children in the following three situations are eligible for English education:
Note – In order to provide ample processing time at the Ministry level, we advise parents to submit their intent to homeschool by July 1. If a child stops attending an educational institution during the course of the school year, written notice must be sent within 10 days of the date on which school attendance ceases. The MEQ’s secure online form may be used by parents to send written notice.
1. Send written notice of intent for homeschooling to the Ministry of Education (MEQ) and to our board’s Education Department.
2. Send your child’s learning project to the Ministry of Education.
3. In order to benefit from the support services offered by our school board, parents must take the following steps:
Complete the admission process with the Education Department at our board office (15 Katimavik, Gatineau, QC J9J 0E9).
Ensure that you child lives in the territory covered by our board and is eligible for English instruction under the Charter of French Language before applying for a permanent code. This is a requirement from MEES for homeschooling.
To register with our school board, you must provide us with the following documents for the admission process:
4. For support services offered by our board, parents must submit the following to our Education department:
Direction de l’enseignement à la maison
Ministère de l’Éducation
Email : dem@education.gouv.qc.ca
Phone #: 514-787-3583 ext. 5410 or 1-877-787-3583
Send a message homeschooling@wqsb.qc.ca
Stewart Aitken, Director of Education
Louise Ricard, Consultant
Corinna Abraham, Administrative Technician
Western Québec School Board
15 Katimavik, Gatineau (QC) J9J 0E9