Homeschooling process and steps

Homeschooling, also known as home education, is a form of education that replaces school attendance. It involves transferring educational responsibility to the family and providing an educational experience outside school. 

Parents who choose homeschooling must submit a notice of intent, a learning project, a status report and two reports on their child’s learning progress each year. Parents evaluate their child’s learning progress, or have it evaluated, and make sure that their child fulfills their obligation to take ministerial evaluations. Parents and the child also attend a monitoring meeting.

If you wish to undertake the process of homeschooling, or if you are already homeschooling, you must submit a written annual notice of intent for your child to the Direction de l’enseignement à la maison of the Ministère de l’Éducation as well as to your school service centre (SSC) or school board (SB). 

The notice must be submitted no later than July 1 of each year, or within 10 days from the day on which the child last attended school during the school year.

Your child’s learning project must, among other things, aim for the acquisition of diverse knowledge and various competencies set out in compulsory programs in language of instruction and second language, mathematics, science and technology and social sciences.

You must submit to the Direction de l’enseignement à la maison of the Ministère de l’Éducation a document that describes your child’s learning project and start implementing it no later than September 30 of each year. If your child stops attending an educational institution during the school year, you must submit and implement the learning project within 30 days of the last day on which your child last attended school.

The learning project must include the following elements: 

• a description of the chosen educational approach 
• the programs of study that will be taught as well as a brief description of the activities chosen for that purpose 
• the other knowledge and skills that the child is expected to acquire as well as a brief description of the relevant teaching and learning activities chosen 
• the educational resources that will be used 
• a plan indicating the approximate amount of time that will be allocated to learning activities 
• the name and contact information of each organization that will contribute to your child’s learning as well as a description of this contribution 
• the means of evaluation that will be used to assess your child’s progress 
• the last level of educational services your child received from an educational institution

For more information on the learning project, consult the Guide for Parent-Educators (PDF 1.70 Mb) (in French only).

If you would like a copy of the guide in English, please contact the Direction de l'enseignement à la maison (DEM) by telephone at 1-877-787-3583, ext. 5410, or via email.

Templates are also available to help you prepare the learning project.

The status report is an account of the implementation of your child’s learning project. It provides a snapshot of the learning activities carried out and the approximate amount of time allocated to them. If applicable, it also mentions changes that may have been made to the learning project.

For more information on the learning project, consult the Guide for Parent-Educators (PDF 1.70 Mb) (in French only).

If you would like a copy of the guide in English, please contact the Direction de l'enseignement à la maison (DEM) by telephone at 1-877-787-3583, ext. 5410, or via email.

Templates for preparing the status report are also at your disposal.

The mid-term report and the completion report are documents in which you provide information on your child’s learning progress in each subject and the evaluations conducted. Comments on the progress presents, for example, the progress made and the difficulties encountered by your child since the implementation of the learning project.

For more information on the reports on the child’s progress, consult the Guide for Parent-Educators (PDF 1.70 Mb) (in French only).

If you would like a copy of the guide in English, please contact the Direction de l'enseignement à la maison (DEM) by telephone at 1-877-787-3583, ext. 5410, or via email.

Templates are also available to help you prepare the reports on the child’s learning progress.

During the implementation of the learning project, you and your child will be required to participate in a monitoring meeting. Your resource person will contact you to determine the time and logistics of the meeting. 

Several options are possible. For example, a meeting may take place in person or by videoconference. The length of a meeting will depend on the situation. You may be accompanied by a person of your choice at the meeting. 

Other meetings could be held if you encounter some difficulties in the implementation of the learning project or if your child is not making adequate progress.

For more information on the learning project, consult the Guide for Parent-Educators (PDF 1.70 Mb) (in French only).

If you would like a copy of the guide in English, please contact the Direction de l'enseignement à la maison (DEM) by telephone at 1-877-787-3583, ext. 5410, or via email.

You must monitor your child’s progress throughout the learning project by choosing one or more of the following evaluation methods: 

• an evaluation by the school service centre (SSC) or school board (SB) 
• an evaluation by a private educational institution 
• an evaluation by the holder of a teaching licence 
• a ministerial examination set by the Minister 
• a portfolio submitted to the Minister

In order to obtain a Secondary School Diploma, homeschooled children are subject to the same certification regulations as those who attend school. The school service centre (SSC) or school board (SB) will take the necessary steps so that your child can be evaluated free of charge to earn the credits required for a diploma recognized by the Minister.

Ministerial examinations

In Québec, all students and homeschooled children take examinations set by the Minister. To register your child for ministerial examinations, you must follow the necessary steps with your SSC or SB. Guides for parents and information documents (in French only) provide complete information on the examinations.

To submit all the documents to the Direction de l’enseignement à la maison of the Ministère de l’Éducation, you must log in to the secure site for homeschool providers or create an account for the first time.

Submission dates

For a complete list of the dates by which you must submit the required documents, see the homeschooling schedule (PDF 217 Kb) (in French only).