Return to school delayed until Wednesday for Ottawa students

Students in English public and Catholic schools in Ottawa and eastern Ontario will have an extended Christmas break as COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the province.

The Ontario government has announced the return to school for in-person learning will be pushed back to Wednesday, instead of Monday. The government said the two-day delay will allow time to deploy additional safety measures, including HEPA filters to school boards. 

Classes were set to resume on Monday for students in the Ottawa Carleton District School Board, Ottawa Catholic School Board, Upper Canada District School Board, Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario, the Renfrew County District School Board and the Renfrew County Catholic School Board after the two-week break over the holidays.

"I, and colleagues from across Ontario, have always maintained that schools should be the last to close and the first to open. It's critical to the positive mental health and academic success of our children," said Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's chief medical officer of health.

"This will provide our schools with extra time to begin to put in place additional health and safety measures, including deploying additional masking options for students and educators."