Although it is not directly related to immigration, one of the questions that we are often asked is whether someone’s child is eligible for publicly funded education in British Columbia. Many school board websites, such as the Vancouver School Board‘s, state which documents certain foreign nationals and permanent residents should provide so that their children may attend publicly-funded elementary and/or secondary school. However, many people (including some staff at these school boards) are unaware of the “why” or the policies behind the information on these websites. The predictable result is uncertainty as soon as scenarios which are not listed on school board websites occur. The Law Section 82 of British Columbia’s School Act provides that school boards must provide education free of charge to every student of school age if the student and the student’s guardian are ordinarily resident in British Columbia. It states: 82 (1) A board must provide free of charge to every student of school age resident in British Columbia and enrolled in an educational program in a school operated by the board, (a) instruction in an educational program sufficient to meet the general requirements for graduation, (b) instruction in an educational program after the student has met the general … Read More