March break postponed to week of April 12 for all Ontario schools
Posted February 11, 2021 10:00 am.
Last Updated February 11, 2021 3:41 pm.
Ontario’s education minister has announced March break will be postponed for all schools across the province until the week of April 12.
Stephen Lecce says they are postponing the break to reduce travel and limit opportunities for congregation as concern for variants increases.
He added the decision was made in consultation with public health officials.
“I recognize this is one more change in a year that has been challenging for so many students and our education staff,” Lecce said Thursday. “But it is one made on the best advice of public health officials to keep them safe and to keep our schools open in this province.”
The province’s largest teachers’ union has called on the government to keep March break in place, saying students, families and teachers need the time off.
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Schools across Ontario, except those in three Greater Toronto Area hot spots, have resumed in-person learning after a stretch of online classes.
Students in Toronto, Peel Region and York Region return to physical classrooms on Feb. 16.
Top doctors in Toronto and Peel have warned that rolling back other restrictions as students resume in-person learning amid the spread of new virus variants could kick off a worse wave of infections.
The provincial and the federal governments have been urging residents to limit their travel.
The federal government recently introduced its own policies aimed at preventing travel over the spring break. Four major airlines have halted their flights from Canada to Mexico and the Caribbean until the end of April.
The provincial government has also introduced mandatory COVID-19 testing for all international arrivals to Ontario.
