The volunteer-led organization Ontario School Safety is renewing calls to the Ontario government to improve indoor air quality in schools.
The call comes as Ontario sees a rapid increase in cases of the flu, particularly impacting young children.
In April, 2021, the Government of Ontario announced it was investing over $130 million, in addition to funds from the Canadian government, to upgrade school infrastructure to protect children from COVID-19. The majority of this funding was earmarked for ventilation projects to improve indoor air quality.
HEPA filters continue to be required in kindergarten classrooms and learning spaces without mechanical ventilation, but Mary Jo Nabuurs, a spokesperson for Ontario School Safety, tells CityNews there was no education on how to use the filters and so there are grave inconsistencies across boards and even within individual schools.
“Even in a school itself, you could have some portion of the school be really well ventilated based on the ventilation system they have there, but another portion of the school may not be,” Nabuurs says.
She says the government needs to test air quality in schools to see where improvements are most needed.
“We have been asking them and insist that they invest in measuring the air quality in those spaces, schools and school buses, and not leaving it as something for which school boards have to pull from an already overstretched budget,” she says.
Clean indoor air is a human right
There have been multiple scientific studies that show good air quality can increase productivity and mental health, but during the cold and flu season, it is also crucial to help limit the spread of airborne viruses.
Common airborne viruses include the common cold, COVID-19, pertussis (whooping cough), strep, TB, measles and influenza. But Nabuurs says she hears from families that that is not always common knowledge.
“We simply inhale the air that someone who is infected breathed out, like so easy,” she says.
She says schools and school buses are also large transmission hubs because of a mixture of small spaces, poor air quality, and the susceptibility of kids to these illnesses.
In 2023, the Ontario government carried Bill 86 which targeted improving air quality in non-residential workplaces including the legislature itself, but little work has been done on schools.
“The cost of investing in it will repay itself over and over and over again over time,” Nabuurs says. “[We want] families and people to know that clean indoor air is a human right.”
School kids shouldn’t always be sick
The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) reported that in November, it saw eight times more children test positive for the flu compared to the same month in 2024, and twice the number of children required hospitalization.
Public Health Ontario says there were 5,400 cases of influenza reported for the week ending Dec. 13, with nearly 35 per cent of tests coming back positive. The data showed the highest number of infections occurred in children between the ages of five and 11.
There’s also been a sharp increase in hospitalizations across the country, nearly doubling in one week. In Ontario, just under 1,000 hospitalizations related to influenza were reported in the most recent week, an increase of more than 400 over the previous week. Three children from the Ottawa area have also died in the last two weeks from influenza complications.
There are a couple of reasons the flu season is particularly bad this year. Coming off of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are continuing to live with weakened immune systems leaving them more susceptible to severe illness.
Infectious diseases specialist, Dr. Isaac Bogoch, says when dealing with influenza there are three circulating viruses, with the most predominant being the H3N2 virus.
“The vaccine that we use to protect against influenza has three components. One of the issues this year is the H3N2 component is not as protective as we would like,” he adds.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get the flu shot as it can still decrease the risk of serious illness. It just means individuals need to be proactive with other measures that can also limit the spread.
As schools have become cesspools for viruses spreading, Nabuurs says she has heard from families who chose to keep their children home from school the entire last week to avoid illness putting a damper on holiday plans.
“When is the government okay with families being fearful of their kids getting sick at school so they keep them out of school for five straight days and they’re not sick?” she said “It’s nonsensical.”
“[People] do not have to get repeatedly sick just because their kids attend daycare or school or take a school bus.”
Financial costs
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) reported a 19.3 per cent increase in supply staff costs between 2020 and 2025.
Ottawa Carleton District School Board’s (OCDSB) CFO said that in the 2024/25 school year it had spent $12 million more on occasional teachers and educational assistants than budgeted.
As viruses spread around schools, it is not only children getting sick. Teachers and support staff are also at risk leading to higher absentee rates.
TDSB says the cost of supply teachers is currently underfunded by the province, leading to a budget deficit.
According to the Government of Canada, over three-quarters of teachers in Ontario are women. Women are also more likely to work in long term care and other caregiver settings, increasing their risk of contracting a virus.
“They’re highly exposed, let’s say with COVID, but also other viruses that can cause you longer term issues,” Nabuurs said.
What can individuals do?
“The goal is to be able to keep schools and workplaces and things like that open if we run into another [pandemic],” Nabuurs says, adding we need to take action now to protect Ontarians’ health.
Mask mandates and increased standards for indoor air quality need to come at the provincial level, she says, but there are things that individuals can do to protect themselves.
If you live in an area where the outdoor air quality is healthy, Nabuurs suggests opening a window to help ventilate your home or apartment. If this is not feasible because you live in a polluted area or the air quality is poor, air purifiers can help.
“Either they could be commercial ones that you buy, but there are also ones you can make yourself that are much more affordable,” she says. OntarioSchoolSafety.com has resources on how to create your own filter.
Most importantly, if you do get sick, try and limit the spread. Especially around the holidays when large groups are gathering, consider staying home if you are felling unwell or masking up, she says.
