Ontario’s Education Minister Paul Calandra signaled at a recent news conference that the Ford government is weighing a complete ban on cellphones in publicly funded schools both public and separate a move that educators and child development advocates say is long overdue.
The province currently has phone restrictions on the books, but critics argue those rules are riddled with gaps that render them largely ineffective. Under existing policy, students in Grade 6 and below can use phones at school if a teacher grants permission a carve-out that, in practice, places enormous pressure on classroom teachers, particularly those who already struggle to maintain order.
The situation is even more contentious in Grades 7 through 12. The existing so-called “ban” applies only inside classrooms, and even then, enforcement is left entirely to individual teachers. That means a single lenient instructor can effectively nullify the policy for an entire class all it takes is one teacher willing to look the other way.
Beyond the question of policy enforcement, researchers have raised a more fundamental concern phones don’t have to be in use to cause harm. Studies suggest that simply having a device within arm’s reach is enough to reduce a student’s ability to focus. Every moment a student’s mind drifts to what might be happening on their phone is a moment lost to actual learning.
Screen time more broadly has also drawn scrutiny. A growing body of research indicates that excessive exposure to screens regardless of whether the device is a personal phone or a school-issued tablet can impede learning outcomes.
The debate doesn’t stop at personal phones. School boards across Ontario have spent recent years expanding access to school-issued devices such as iPads and Chromebooks. The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) launched an ambitious one-to-one device program aimed at equipping every student in Grade 5 and above with a personal electronic device.
The TDSB officially wound down that program for Grade 5 students in the 2025–26 school year, but it remains active for students in Grades 6 to 12 who had previously enrolled. As a result, the majority of middle school and high school students in Canada’s largest school board continue to spend significant portions of their day in front of school-provided screens.
For younger students those in Kindergarten through Grade 4 concerns run even deeper. Research consistently shows that children retain more when they write by hand rather than type, and that reading on paper leads to better comprehension than reading on a screen.
Advocates pushing for stricter rules say Minister Calandra has a rare opportunity to enact meaningful, lasting change. Their recommendations are pointed: a complete phone ban across all school hallways and classrooms, with exceptions carved out only for documented medical needs such as continuous glucose monitoring.
Beyond phones, they’re calling for a firm directive eliminating nearly all screen time for students in Kindergarten through Grade 4, with tightly defined limits introduced gradually through Grades 5 to 8. At the high school level, some screen uses such as typing essays would remain permitted, but within clear boundaries designed to prevent excess.
Proponents of the stricter approach also highlight an often-overlooked fiscal argument: reducing reliance on school-issued technology could generate meaningful cost savings for school boards at a time when education budgets are stretched thin.
Minister Calandra has not yet announced a formal policy, but the signals coming out of Queen’s Park suggest a decision may not be far off. Whether the government goes all the way or stops short with another round of half-measures remains to be seen.
