In its 2026 Ontario budget, the Ford government has committed to spending more than $41 million over three years on school resource officer (SRO) programs across the province.
According to budget documents tabled at Queen’s Park on Thursday, the government said the funding will contribute toward reducing the violence risks in schools.
“By strengthening relationships between students, educators and law enforcement, this initiative will support the creation of secure learning environments and enhance understanding between communities,” the budget said.
The Ford government tabled Bill 33, known as the Supporting Children and Students Act, in 2025. It, among other things, included a requirement for “boards to work with local police services to provide them with access to school premises, permit them to participate in school programs and implement school resource officer programs.”
As the bill worked its way through the Ontario legislature before receiving royal assent in November, there weren’t specific funds attached to the bolster SRO programs.
During an August protest outside Queen’s Park, advocates argued there should be additional funding in place for more education workers, child and youth workers, mental health supports, guidance counsellors, and social workers.
“This is ultimately an attack on all students in Ontario,” Andrea Vásquez Jiménez, the director of Policing-Free Schools, said at the time.
The Toronto District School Board ended its SRO program in 2017 after a survey found teens felt intimidated, watched or targeted. But data from several teachers’ unions showed a dramatic 77 per cent increase in violence in Ontario schools since Doug Ford took office in 2018.
Meanwhile, it’s unclear how the new funding will be allocated or how soon programs can be either reconstituted or established.
With files from Tina Yazdani and John Marchesan
