Frequently Asked Questions

A HWDSB whistleblower policy can support all members of the HWDSB community.  Such a policy can promote a clear, fair, consistent and effective mechanism to receiving and resolving complaints and concerns without fear of reprisal.

Whistleblower concerns may not be specifically addressed in some Board policies. Developing a whistleblower policy is preferable to amending each policy and would also apply to new policies developed by the Board.

A whistleblower policy will also further HWDSB’s commitment to foster and maintain a respectful culture that permeates in all HWDSB learning and work environments, so that:

• Individuals may come forward in good faith without fear of reprisal
• Everyone is treated with dignity and respect
• Everyone is supported and accepted
• Everyone is free from discrimination and harassment
• HWDSB learning and workspaces are welcoming, respectful, accessible and free from systemic discrimination, harassment and different forms of oppression.

Under the Education Act and its regulations, the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Occupational Health and Safety Act, HWDSB is responsible for ensuring that learning and work environments are safe, inclusive and free from discrimination and harassment.  Various statutory provisions also protect employees from reprisal if not explicitly found in Board policy.

On October 3rd, 2022, the Board of Trustees approved two important new policies, the Human Rights Policy and Anti-Black Racism Policy. These policies signal our next steps in HWDSB’s commitment to providing learning and working environments that are welcoming, respectful, accessible, and free from discrimination and harassment.  The Human Rights Policy serves as an anchor for existing and future policies and procedures, including the development and implementation of our Whistleblower Policy. 

Further, HWDSB currently has a number of polices and related procedures that include elements of human rights tenets tenants such as the Equity and Inclusion Policy 5.4, the Workplace Violence and Harassment Prevention Policy 4.9, and the Accommodation of Staff Policy 4.1.  Further, whistleblower protection is currently defined and outlined within the Staff Policy 3.6 Fraud Prevention and Management Policy and Procedure.  A whistleblower policy will further serve as an additional expectation which can be considered when these types of policies are interpreted and applied.

HWDSB also has nine collective agreements and three Terms and Conditions documents which provide employees with additional job security, due process and arbitration rights.

Board policy is reviewed, revised and approved by the Board of Trustees as part of their governance role and responsibility. Staff assists by writing reports and draft policies and conducting consultation activities. Through the Policy Committee and then the full Board of Trustees, trustees review scoping reports and draft policy and make changes and decisions about what to include as well as consultation.

HWDSB policies are reviewed on a five-year policy review cycle.

The policy writing and review process is outlined on the board website at the following link:

Policy-Develolpment-Process-FINAL-April2018.pdf (hwdsb.on.ca) 

The survey garnered a total of 562 respondents with 329 (58.5%) identifying themselves as HWDSB Parents/Guardian/Caregiver. The second highest group represented was HWDSB Staff Members who made up 183 (32.5%) of total survey respondents. Other groups who self-identified as respondents included, HWDSB Students (1.9%), HWDSB Vendor/Contractor/Third Party Service Providers (3.7%), and Community Members or Members of Community Organizations (3.2%). HWDSB Volunteers were not represented in this survey despite being an option of choice within the question

A policy acts as the guideline and the procedure sets out the specific operations and actions that will bring the policy to life

Both are important, however, oftentimes when reviewing a policy, the details on how the policy will be implemented are found in the accompanying procedure. The procedure for this policy will be shared in January/February 2023 once the Policy is approved. 

Within a School Board, a policy must first be approved by the Board of Trustees and then the accompanying procedure will be developed to operationalize the policy by staff. 

Based on the consultation feedback, we heard that many people had wonderings and questions about the use of the term "Whistleblower."

It is generally recognized that the term "whistleblower" refers to an individual, with knowledge of dangerous or illegal behaviors within an organization who bravely come forward to shed light on such activities and bring about change to prevent further harm. 

For the purpose of this policy, HWDSB defines a Whistleblower as anyone who brings attention to wrongdoings (see wrongdoing definition) in order to ensure that HWDSB functions in a manner that promotes a safe, welcoming, and inclusive working and learning environment.

Whistleblower: A person who brings forward information that reveals wrongdoing.

Within the context of the HWDSB Whistleblower Policy,

 Wrongdoing means:

• Violation of laws, Acts, or legislation (ex. Ontario Human Rights Code)
• Violation of Board policies procedures (ex. Human Rights Policy, Fraud Prevention and Management Policy and Procedure)
• Misuse of public funds or public assets
• Mismanagement or abuse of positional power
• Doing something that creates a substantial danger to health, safety, or life of person(s)
• Serious breach of an Organizations Code of Conduct or existing policies
• Knowingly directing, counseling, or pressuring a person to commit a wrongdoing

As a foundation, HWDSB Human Rights Policy used to ground the work of the Whistleblower Policy (WBP) from Human Rights and Equity lens.

Further, HWDSB staff referenced the Canadian Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act along with similar policies from other Ontario School Boards for guidance and when creating our Whistleblower Policy. 

Yes. HWDSB staff completed a thorough review of all school board Whistleblower policies and procedures. Further, HWDSB staff met with and consulted directly with TDSB staff to help in the development of this policy. The TDSB has had a Whistleblower policy since 2008 and therefore, we felt that they would be able to provide rich learning that they have gathered over years of experience. Our goal in this consultation process was to learn how best how best we can create our procedures to ensure people will come forward and report wrongdoings in good faith. 

All people(s) bringing forward a concern or report under the Whistleblower Policy will be assumed to be "acting in good faith." The accompanying procedure to this policy will outline steps to be taken should, during the investigation stage, evidence suggest that a report was filed with malicious or vexatious intent. 

As part of the initial consultation process, people were asked to share what they feel would consider to be reportable under the policy to try and capture what offences to include in the policy. That being said, this list is not conclusive and any action that violates a person(s) human right (OHRC), Canadian laws, organizational code of conduct or existing policies, along with any action that constitutes an abuse of power dynamic should be considered as appropriate to bring forward under the policy.

A third-party company will be hired to handle the receiving of complaints.

The details of this process will be outlined in the accompanying procedure. HWDSB is committed to ensuring the process is confidential and safe for individuals to come forward. Further, HWDSB is committed to addressing wrongdoing, as defined by the policy, appropriately and in an independent, transparent, fair, and timely manner. 

Data collection and the retention of records will be outlined in the accompanying procedure, but it will fall within the purview of the Privacy Office.

The process for investigation and resolution will be outlined in the accompanying procedure.

Yes, an annual report on Whistleblower complaints will be made available to the Trustees and made publicly available. 

There are no penalties outlined in the policy regarding “not reporting” however, it should be noted that depending on the concern, that different employee groups may be held to the standards outlined by their own professional colleges (ex., Duty to Report – Harm or Neglect)

A Whistleblower Procedure will:

• Encourage current and former Board members, employees, providers, students, volunteers, vendors, contractors and partner organizations to come forward with credible information on illegal practices or violations of adopted organization policies, including with respect to issues of honesty and integrity, conflicts of interest and of questionable financial or operational matters
• Formalize a procedure for receiving and investigating complaints which are already reviewed when raised with the Board
• Whistleblowers would be expressly protected from reprisal if a procedure is identified as necessary to support existing practices when questionable financial or operational matters are raised.

The communication of this policy and procedure is very important to everyone.  HWDSB will ensure we communicate both internally and externally and ensure the procedure is accessible on both our HWDSB website and HWDSB internet.  A series of system communications will be shared in January and February 2023.