January 2024 Update: BCSTA will review the Guide to School Legislation over the next few months to confirm that they reflect the most recent legislative and policy changes and updates. Review the Learning Guides, linked below, for the most recent information for trustees.
The Guide to School Legislation in British Columbia contains factual summaries of the key legislation that governs education in B.C. In each subject area, the guide contains an overview of the legislation in simple, basic terms, and includes references to the relevant sections of acts, regulations and orders. Many sections include context information (e.g. statistics, history) to help the reader understand how the legislation connects to the school system.
This guide contains many references to enactments: acts, bills, regulations, ministerial orders. Readers who wish to consult the primary sources may wish to consult the Ministry of Education and Child Cares’s Manual of School Law which includes most of these enactments. Another helpful resource for B.C. legislation is the BC Laws website.
The guide is a non-legal summary published for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a legal text, and persons with specific questions or who are faced with particular situations should seek qualified legal advice.