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Home | Press Releases | Independent School Associations’ Unique Contributions to Civil Society

New Report Explores Independent School Associations’ Unique Contributions to Canadian Civil Society

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 1, 2026

As Canada’s diversity has increased, so too has the wide variety of educational models available across the country, in both district (public) and independent schooling. A new report explores the specific contributions of voluntary school associations to sustaining public trust in Canada’s independent schools, whether they be of a religious (e.g., Christian, Jewish, Muslim) or non-religious orientation.

The report is titled “Better Together: How Canada’s Independent School Associations Strengthen Democracy and Civil Society.” The paper includes detailed excerpts from interviews completed with school association leaders or employees spread across four provinces.

“Accommodation for linguistic and religious minorities is fundamental to Canada’s history and identity. This is mirrored by the wide variety of independent schools visible across our country. What remains hidden to much of the Canadian public are the numerous contributions that independent school associations make to sustaining trust in Canada’s pluralistic approach to education. This is the key topic that “Better Together” focuses on,” said Joanna DeJong VanHof, author of the report and education program director at Cardus.

“This report also shares some broad recommendations regarding how the relationships between provincial educational authorities and independent school associations can continue to constructively evolve. Maintaining public trust in Canada’s educational pluralism requires both provinces and associations to further collaborate in holding independent schools up to meaningful levels of public accountability,” she added.

“Better Together: How Canada’s Independent School Associations Strengthen Democracy and Civil Society” is freely available on the Cardus website. It builds upon a previous 2018 study of independent school associations, also published by Cardus.

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Note to reporters and editors: A high-resolution headshot of report author Joanna DeJong VanHof is available here for download.

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Cardus is a non-partisan think tank dedicated to clarifying and strengthening, through research and dialogue, the ways in which society’s institutions can work together for the common good.