What Happened to Charter Schools in Canada?

For 20 years, charter schools have held a precarious existence in Canada. Implemented in the province of Alberta in 1994, only a handful of charter schools remain in the entire nation. In this article, I explore the ideas of school choice and charter schooling and how they have largely disappeared as educational policy issues for Canadians. While reasons for this decline remain complex, I highlight the importance of some of the historical, cultural, regional, and political dimensions of education in Canada. School choice, generally, and charter schools, specifically, remain essentially a nonissue for Canadians today. In opposition to neoconservative and neoliberal efforts, Canadians have largely continued to support their public systems of schooling. The rejection of charter schools should represent a continued commitment to public education and the principles of equity and social justice.