The impact of privatisation and marketisation on public education in Canada
Thursday 6th February 2026
The Public Education Exchange (PEX) is a Canadian network that brings together educators, public education advocates and researchers to advocate for public schools that are equitable, accessible, publicly funded, democratically governed. In a recent series of video interviews, PEX highlighted the diverse ways education privatisation takes place in Canada and its impact, calling for the defence of the public education system.
SOS Alberta & Privatisation of Education: In conversation with Heather Ganshorn
Video by the Public Education Exchange titled SOS Alberta & Privatization of Education: In conversation with Heather Ganshorn
In the first interview, Aastha Shah speaks to Heather Ganshorn, Research Director at Support Our Students Alberta (SOS Alberta), a grassroots volunteer-run organisation, advocating for inclusive, equitable, and fully-funded public schools. Heather begins the interview by debunking one of the common myths around education privatisation in Alberta.
“Most think of elite private schools, it’s a lot broader than that … Privatisation is all about getting their private hands on public dollars to underwrite their private endeavors”
Heather highlights the diverse forms of education privatisation in Alberta from homeschooling subsidies to subsidies for private schools. Notably, when a student enrolls in a private school, that school receives 70% of the base rate funding per student that a public school would have received had the same student decided to stay in the public system. Alberta also has charter schools, a form of public-private partnership, which are funded by the State, but run by private actors.
Discussing SOS Alberta’s advocacy for well-funded public education, Heather highlights the key role of increasing public awareness of the current issues.
“Public opinion polls, even in Alberta, show that most people do not support public money going to private education. But a lot of people do not know the extent to which this is going on… Raising that public awareness is really important”
Privatisation and Defunding in Education: In Conversation with Dr. Lana Parker
Video by the Public Education Exchange titled Privatisation and Defunding in Education: In Conversation with Dr. Lana Parker
Dr. Lana Parker, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Windsor and co-founder of PEX, joins Aastha Shah in another episode, discussing how the underfunding of public education drives privatisation and the importance of well-funded public education for everyone.
As Heather Ganshorn from SOS Alberta did, Dr Parker begins by unpacking a common myth around privatisation. Private schools are only one small example.
“When we are talking about privatisation of education, we are actually talking about two sides of a coin. One side is this idea of underfunding and eroding the public tax base and the other side is looking for solutions to the problems created by that underfunding in the private sector.”
Later Dr Parker notes that underfunding “is necessary in order to make privatisation seem appealing” and delves into this underfunding impacts on the experiences of learners, teachers and communities. Drawing attention to her report Infinite Demands, Finite Resources: A Window into the Effects of Ongoing Underfunding and Trends of Privatization in Ontario Schools, Dr Parker describes the loss of arts opportunities, “customized experimental learning spaces” including wood working spaces, resources and the capacity to meet the needs of students with more complex needs. She also highlights growing class sizes as an impact. She explains the ultimate consequences:
“...students have fewer opportunities, fewer experiences, certainly fewer experiences that come at no cost to families. Teachers have fewer resources at their disposal to create rich experiences for young people and we see a lot of frustration among teachers, parents and students because it’s getting harder and harder to meet those needs.”
While noting that public education in Canada faces challenges and that there are funding issues, Dr Parker concludes by underlining why it is necessary to defend public education now.
“What was fought for is not something that will easily be gained back if we lose it or allow it to, sort of, wither away on the vine over time.
What a public education system, a robust public education system, offers is a launching point for society’s creative energy, for future innovation, for the democratic commitments, that come not from the explicit teaching of how does a political system work, but from the the rich lived experience of being in a community with people who are different from you, different backgrounds, different values and learning to get along and value and disagree care about one another.”
Explore the full video series by the Public Education Exchange and learn more about education privatisation and marketisation in Canada as well as civil society groups advocating for the strengthening of public education here.