As Ontario’s Catholic Education Week 2026 begins on May 3 under the theme "Pilgrims of Hope: On the Path to Holiness," celebrations of the province’s Catholic schools will once again highlight the unique gift of faith-integrated education.

Yet, for some, this year’s observances carry a more sombre undertone. While communities gather to honour the Christ-centred values and moral formation that remains at the heart of Catholic schools, leaders like Durham Catholic District School Board chair Morgan Ste. Marie are acknowledging an unavoidable quiet challenge.

“I wouldn’t say things are as disheartening, but more so that there are just new challenges in front of us. Last year, there was Bill 33, and some changes came about because of it. While we're still waiting on some of the regulations that came out of it, there are a lot of questions that are unanswered,” he told The Catholic Register.

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“This new bill is before us. If it passes as is, the devil will be in the details with regard to the regulations that flow from it regarding preserving our Catholicity. At this point, we all have more questions than answers.”  

The bill Ste. Marie is referring to Ontario's Bill 101, the Putting Student Achievement First Act, tabled on April 13 by Minister of Education Paul Calandra. In short, it proposes changes to school board governance and operations, mainly through centralizing control within the province’s Ministry of Education. It also looks to reduce trustee powers, limit expenses, cap board sizes and create new CEO roles for school boards under an emphasis on prioritizing student achievement. 

The bill comes after the province has already assumed control over a number of school boards, including the Toronto and Dufferin-Peel Catholic boards. The provincial government made these moves due to perceived financial mismangement.

In a letter to The Catholic Register (published in this edition on Page 20), Ste. Marie set out to answer the critical question of what would happen if we diminished the role of elected school board trustees. Rather than focusing solely on governance mechanics, he hoped to underscore why locally elected Catholic trustees remain essential guardians of the distinct Catholicity of our schools and the constitutionally protected denominational rights that have defined publicly funded Catholic education in Ontario since before Confederation.

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Ste. Marie argued that these rights, enshrined in Section 93 of the Constitution Act, 1867 and reinforced in the 1982 Charter, are less self-sustaining than many believe. He spoke about how they depend on active oversight to ensure that budgets, curriculum decisions and school priorities continue to reflect the unique mission of Catholic education. 

“ I think what's important here is that trustees, parents and ratepayers continue to want to be part of the ongoing development of the Catholic system, and some of these changes just make that more difficult, and they put it at risk.  What is going to happen here is potentially going to weaken that responsibility that elected Catholic trustees have for making sure that our Catholic system maintains its Catholicity,” he said. 

Having been inspired to speak on Bill 101, Ste. Marie shared that he believes the proposed changes in Bill 101 remain a great concern due to its heavy focus on altering trustees' roles. Few people, Ste. Marie believes, can understand just how risky it will be to local involvement and, specifically for Catholic boards, to the Catholicity of the system.

His piece pins those constitutional denominational rights, the unique Christ-centred environment, a risk of centralization, parental choice and, perhaps most seriously, faith formation as a budget priority as key points of inherent Catholicity that stand to be wounded depending by Bill 101. 

“ Under the new legislation, when the board of trustees and the director, soon to be called the CEO, disagree on the budget for what is going to happen in the following year, unless they can come to an agreement, the CEO goes to the ministry and gets approval there. That takes it out of the hands of locally elected trustees, and so as priorities are funded according to their ranking, if, for whatever reason, faith formation was no longer a priority, you could imagine that the funding for it would change,” the DCDSB chair explained. 

With parents and ratepayers all wanting, to some degree, a sense of ownership in what happens in their schools and communities, which has led to great community collaborations with Catholic school councils and organizations like the Catholic Women's League and Knights of Columbus, Ste. Marie warns that if the foundation of such schools is chipped away or diminished, the community “feel” only becomes harder to maintain. 

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As Catholic Education Week unfolds, Ste. Marie urges parents, parishes, schools and communities across both Durham and the province to remain vigilant. With key regulations still to come and the legislative process set to advance further on May 13, he reminds those interested to contact local MPPs or submit feedback on Bill 101 at ola.org/en/apply-committees.

“We want to continue to highlight what makes it unique to attend a Catholic school. The challenge has just become that much more difficult. These are things that we have always been talking about. Now, it has just become that much more important.”