With artificial intelligence increasingly shaping how Catholic students are taught, Ontario parents are being called to learn about the changes their children face in our digital age.

The Ontario Association of Parents in Catholic Education (OAPCE) will help guide parents through that reality at its 87th annual conference in Mississauga, Ont., April 18.

There, prompted by growing concerns from parents and real-world stories of AI’s impact, including its ability to bypass families and influence young minds directly, the conference will explore practical ways for parents and educators to guide children amid rapid technological change. 

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OAPCE co-executive directors Joe Perri and Annalisa Crudo-Perri say the theme emerged from a few avenues, one being directly from questions parents have been asking on the growing pull of AI in classrooms and beyond. 

“ Parents are asking us, ‘What can you tell us about this, about AI and how it's affecting Catholic education in our kids' schools?’  Simply, it was prompted by everything that we're seeing, even some of the extreme stories about kids who have taken their lives because of AI, the relationships that some of these students have had with it and also parents not knowing and wanting to know more. Those drove us to inquire with the experts,” Perri said. 

Among those experts is Lucy Colangelo, founder and CEO of ShineOn, a framework designed to provide clarity amid distractions. Colangelo offers a practical, boots-on-the-ground perspective, having worked directly with parents historically to bridge the digital gap and prevent technology from fully overtaking lives and family relationships. She will discuss programs she has developed, including the “Total Digital Reset,” which offers tools and strategies to help families shift from disconnection to clarity. 

OAPCE first met Colangelo during last year’s conference in Niagara Falls, with the group's conversation about kids getting all too caught up in technology, which led to an ongoing collaboration. She has since presented at OAPCE provincial meetings and with various school boards on similar topics. 

Joining Colangelo is Giancarlo Brotto, founder and CEO of Pave Education, set to bring an academic background and perspective on AI. With more than two decades of experience helping schools transition through digital changes, Brotto stresses that AI is now inevitably deeply infused into daily life, and he’s urging Catholic parents to move beyond fear or passivity.

“What I hope to accomplish with the parents, especially Catholic parents, is not only give them a reality of where we're at with AI and how it's shaping our world, but also the skills to navigate it, one of which is being a creator,” he told The Catholic Register.  

Combining awareness, active engagement and an ongoing advocacy towards AI, Brotto hopes parents will not only come to play “catch-up” with the inevitability as many did with social media, but actively lead and embrace changes and understanding. 

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“We want to ensure  that we're developing ourselves and our kids with skills that will not just let them survive the era of AI, but thrive instead. That starts with taking the energy some have for ignoring AI and refocusing on the type of world we want to have,” he said.

“(Parents and students) have the capacity to do it, but it's up to us and the choices we make to be able to achieve it.” 

In addition to Brotto, Bishop Yvan Mathieu of the Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall will send a pre-recorded video message focused on the theme of shepherding AI, with insights rooted in the Catholic faith. 

As the only organization in Ontario that holds an annual conference specifically for parents in Catholic education, OAPCE is expecting this year’s gathering at St. Francis Xavier Secondary School to attract upwards of 200 attendees from across the province, with registration open until the day of the event. 

The conference will also feature 25 exhibitors and resource organizations in the resource fair, offering tools and information parents can bring back to their schools. 

Holy Mass celebrated by St. Francis Xavier Parish’s Fr. Andrew Cyruk will take place in the morning, followed by the keynote sessions and a new plenary session at the end of the day to allow for participant discussion and feedback. For Crudo-Perri, it’s a unique element of the conference that underscores its goals of empowerment, advocacy and overall connection.

“ It’s part of offering something that we hear in feedback each year, which is that attendees really enjoy the fact that they get to connect with other parents. We want to give them that opportunity and the opportunity to use their voice,” she said. 

Perri agrees, hoping the event can be seen as a sort of “rallying call” for Catholic parents at a time when their attention and input are perhaps needed most. 

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“ We want parents to come away knowing that their voice matters, that there is power in one voice and that getting all of those voices together makes them amplified.  We need our Catholic parents to come forward and get involved with what we're doing. While we like to think that Catholic education will be here forever, we can't say that unilaterally. To hear their voice is something we've always done, but this year, we definitely want to in a bigger way,” he said. 

For more on the OAPCE 2026 conference or to register, see oapce.org/events/.