Responsibility for schools

The Constitution Act of 1867 gave exclusive jurisdiction over education to Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Schools in Ontario and Quebec already established by Protestant and Roman Catholic educators were safeguarded under the Act. As new provinces joined Confederation, each of them brought their own approach to parochial schools.

Today, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta have provincially supported denominational and non-denominational schools, whereas British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia operate public school systems that are non-denominational.