Ontario teachers left to navigate AI without training or policy guidance

Before classes were dismissed for the summer, at a town hall meeting in Toronto some parents were surprised to learn that classrooms were already incorporating artificial intelligence, based loosely on “guidelines” rather than formal policy from the Toronto District School Board. This lack of policy guidance is not uncommon in Ontario. Indeed, according to a recent Leger survey, Ontario teachers are navigating the entrance of AI into classrooms without adequate training or policies.

In fact, more than half of Ontario teachers (55.4 per cent) in grades 6 to 12, in all school types, say they’ve received no training from their school or school board “on how best to use AI for class lessons and other in-class materials”, and only 41.1 per cent say their school has a policy related to staff AI use.

What about students using AI?

According to 2025 survey data from the United States, more than eight-in-10 high schoolers use AI to assist in their homework, and a 2025 Canadian KPMG survey showed that 73 per cent of Canadian post-secondary students (aged 18 and up) use AI for their schoolwork. According to the CBC’s media monitor, 72 per cent of Canadian teenagers are aware of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and 25 per cent of teens said they use these tools at least monthly (and that was back in 2024, light years ago in terms of AI usage).

So, it’s reasonable to assume a large share of Ontario students use AI tools. Yet according to the new Leger survey, only half (50.7 per cent) of surveyed Ontario teachers say their school has a policy on student AI use. And only 42.5 per cent say their “school or school board provided any training for them on how to instruct students on using AI reasonably” while more than half (54.3 per cent) reported no training at all.

Given how easy it is for AI to substitute human thinking, research and writing, these are shocking numbers.

That said, perhaps the most pressing challenge related to AI use in schools is for teachers to identify when students use AI to do their work for them. It’s become very easy for students to use generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT) not simply to support their research but to write entire papers for them—even in the student’s own voice. Yet in Ontario, 37.1 per cent of teachers say their “school or school board” has provided no “training or tools for them as a teacher to use to help in identifying students using AI.” And more than half (57.9 per cent) say they’ve received no training in this area.

There are significant concerns with AI use in education—primarily, that these tools will diminish students’ ability to critically think, read, write and analyze material. And anyone who’s used AI knows it can present factually incorrect or biased information.

While AI may help empower some kids to cruise the information highway, we clearly need guardrails. These new survey results suggest that Ontario teachers are ill-equipped to manage this generational shift. With a new school year only weeks away, policymakers should take note—or at least, have an AI companion take note for them.