SIR WILFRID LAURIER SCHOOL BOARD
The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board Council adopts a Balanced Budget

At its October 29 regular meeting, the Council of Commissioners of the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board (SWLSB) adopted a balanced budget for the 2025-2026 school year. This comes in the context of $3.7 million in budget cuts, following new financial rules imposed by the Ministère de l'Éducation du Québec (MEQ).

The Council recognizes that adopting a balanced budget was not achieved without sacrifice. "This was a team effort," said Chairperson James Di Sano. "Our goal is to minimize the impact on our students, staff, and schools/centres as much as possible. These are not easy times, but we are committed to making the best decisions possible in the circumstances."

The impacts of the new budgetary rules on our students and staff could have been much greater, but thanks to the collaboration of the QESBA and all nine English school boards in advocating for our students and bringing a court challenge to stay the budgetary rules, the government made significant adjustments both before and after the stay hearing that reduced impacts, and allowed English school boards to drop their request to immediately suspend the new rules. The court case challenging the budgetary rules is continuing to ensure that our students' needs are considered in future budgetary decisions.

The Council would like to thank all those involved in the budgeting process: administrators, governing boards, the Parents' Committee, and the Audit Committee for their dedication, collaboration, and professionalism throughout. The annual budget is developed through a concerted consultation process with these groups to ensure that decisions best reflect the needs and priorities of our schools and centres in the circumstances.

The SWLSB is aware that the cuts required to balance this budget will be felt in our schools. The Council remains committed to making the best fiscal decisions possible and to continuing to advocate for the needs of students, families, and staff, even under these challenging conditions.

With a workforce of more than 2,000 employees, the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board is the third-largest English school board in the Province of Québec and has a graduation rate of 87.4%. Its territory comprises the administrative regions of Laval, Laurentides, and Lanaudière. The school board provides preschool, elementary, secondary, and adult education, together with vocational training services to over 14,000 students in 36 schools and 4 centres. It also offers business training services.