Education Development Charges (EDC)

The province’s pupil accommodation funding model provides grants to eligible school boards to cover the costs to construct and furnish new schools. School boards are responsible for the provision of sites for new schools. Methods for boards to acquire new sites include selling surplus sites, leasing sites, joint venturing with other parties and imposing Education Development Charges (EDCs).

EDCs may be imposed if a board will need to acquire new school sites to accommodate the students resulting from new residential development. The scheme provides an eligible school board with the option of imposing EDCs on residential and non-residential development.

School boards are provided with the general authority to impose EDCs for new school sites in Division E of Part IX of the Education Act. Ontario Regulation 20/98, as amended, provides requirements for determining a board’s eligibility to impose EDCs on new development and the calculation of charges.