Homeschooling

Learn more about homeschooling, the steps involved, and the support available to parents throughout the process.

What is Homeschooling?

Homeschooling, also known as home education, is a form of education that replaces school attendance. It involves transferring educational responsibility to the family and providing an educational experience outside school.

What should you know prior to starting Homeschooling?

The Direction de l’enseignement à la maison (DEM) produced a guide to support and inform parents who wish to start homeschooling. Click here to consult the document.

Bill 101 – Eligibility for English Education

Under Québec’s Charter of the French Language (Bill 101), children must meet specific eligibility requirements to receive instruction in English in Québec.

If you wish to homeschool your child through the English-language education system, please ensure that your child’s eligibility for English instruction has been confirmed, where applicable. If your child does not have a Certificate of Eligibility for Instruction in English, please contact the ESSB for guidance on the applicable requirements and application process.

For further information about English-language eligibility and the application process, visit the Government of Québec’s eligibility for instruction in English webpage or contact ESSB at 418-752-2247 or registration@essb.qc.ca.

Homeschooling process and steps

In Quebec, a parent can choose to home school their child. By choosing homeschooling, the parent assumes full responsibility for ensuring their child receives appropriate, high-quality instruction that supports their learning and educational development.

The parent must meet certain criteria, such as the transmission of a written notice of intent to the Ministry of Education and the school board, the creation of a Learning Project, the evaluation of the child’s learning progress and ensures that their child fulfills their obligation to take ministerial evaluations. The Homeschooling Regulation gives precise information about these conditions, as well as the roles and responsibilities of the various partners in education.

1. Annual Notice of Intent

The parent must submit a written annual notice of intent for their child to the Direction de l’enseignement à la maison of the Ministère de l’Éducation, which will automatically be submitted to your school board (SB).

A notice of intent can be submitted throughout the period in which school attendance is compulsory. This obligation applies from the first day of the school calendar of the school year following the year in which the child turns 6 years old until the last day of the school calendar of the school year during which the child turns 16 years old. Please note that a school year covers the period from July 1 of each year to June 30 of the following year. The notice must be submitted each year no later than July 1, or within 10 days of the last day on which your child last attended school during the school year.

2. Learning Project

The learning project represents the annual learning plan and is designed to ensure the acquisition of the knowledge and development of the competencies outlined in the compulsory programs for language of instruction and second language, mathematics, science and technology, and social sciences. It identifies the learning to be acquired and the competencies to be developed in accordance with the Québec Education Program (QEP).

The learner’s profile is the portrait of the child’s abilities and needs. The aim is to define strengths, interests, challenges, and the difficulties of the child to paint an accurate picture of the learner’s abilities and needs according to the different areas of development.

Before you choose the best curriculum for your child, learn about the various teaching approaches available to homeschoolers. No matter what curriculum or method you choose, every family’s homeschool looks a little different.

The learning project must include several important elements. For more information about the requirements and content of the learning project, please refer to the Guide for Parent-Educators.

3. Status Report

The status report is an account of the implementation of your child’s learning project. It provides a snapshot of the learning activities carried out and the approximate amount of time allocated to them. If applicable, it also mentions changes that may have been made to the learning project.

For more information on the status report, see the Guide for Parent-Educators.

4. Report’s on the Child’s Learning Progress

In the mid-term and completion reports, you are responsible for commenting on your child’s learning progress in relation to the expected outcomes of the programs of study targeted in the learning project and for specifying the evaluations that were carried out.

For more information on the reports on the child’s progress, see the Guide for Parent-Educators.

5. Monitoring Meeting

During the implementation of the learning project, you and your child will be required to participate in a monitoring meeting. This meeting is an opportunity to discuss the educational experience, the implementation of the learning project and your child’s learning progress. Your resource person will contact you to determine the time and logistics of the meeting.

Other meetings could be held if you encounter some difficulties in the implementation of the learning project or if your child is not making adequate progress.

6. Evaluation of Learning

Throughout the learning project, you must monitor your child’s progress using one or more evaluation methods:

• an evaluation by the school board (SB)
• an evaluation by a private educational institution
• an evaluation by the holder of a teaching licence
• a ministerial examination set by the Minister
• a portfolio submitted to the Minister

In order to obtain a Secondary School Diploma, homeschooled child is subject to the same certification regulations as those who attend school. The school board (SB) will take the necessary steps so that your child can be evaluated free of charge to earn the credits required for a diploma recognized by the Minister.

7. Ministerial Examinations

In Québec, all students and homeschooled children take examinations set by the Minister. To register your child for ministerial examinations, you must follow the necessary steps with your SB. The Ministère provides two types of preparatory documents for ministerial examinations. The Guides for parents and information documents are intended primarily for parent-educators and provide more information on the examinations.

8. How to Submit Documents

To submit all the information to the Direction de l’enseignement à la maison of the Ministère de l’Éducation, you must log in to the secure site for homeschool providers (or create an account for the first time).

Homeschooling Support Services

As parent-educators, you have access to different support services provided by the Direction de l’enseignement à la maison of the Ministère de l’Éducation (MEQ) and your school board (SB).

The MEQ can answer your questions and assist you in preparing the information and documents you must submit. Forms are available on the secure site for assisting with the preparation of mandatory information and documents. The DEM can also act in an advisory capacity, particularly with respect to the activities, pedagogical resources, programs of study and progression of learning.

Contact us

If you have questions about homeschooling with the ESSB, our team is here to help.
📧 des@essb.qc.ca
📞 418-752-2247

For questions regarding homeschooling procedures, requirements, documentation, or your child’s learning project, please contact the Direction de l’enseignement à la maison directly.