How long did schools close in Canada during Covid
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Was this fact-check helpful?
1. Summary of the results
The duration of school closures in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic is not consistently reported across the analyses. According to [1], some Canadian schools were shut for more than 135 days due to COVID-19, with Ontario schools being closed for a minimum of 27 weeks (135 days) between 2020 and 2022 [1]. However, other sources, such as [2] and [2], state that school closures in Canada spanned three school years, but do not provide a specific duration for the closures [2]. Additionally, [3] and [3] mention that Ontario had the longest school closures in all of North America, but do not provide a specific duration [3]. Some sources, such as [4], [5], and [6], do not provide any information on the duration of school closures in Canada [4] [5] [6].
2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints
A key piece of missing context is the variation in school closure durations across different provinces in Canada. While some sources, such as [1], provide specific information on the duration of school closures in Ontario, others, such as [7], mention that schools on P.E.I. were shut from mid-March to June in 2020 and faced on-again, off-again closures into 2022, but do not provide a specific duration for school closures in Canada as a whole [7]. Furthermore, the analyses do not provide a comprehensive overview of the impact of school closures on different demographics, such as rural vs. urban areas, or the effects on students with disabilities. Alternative viewpoints, such as the potential benefits of school closures, such as reducing the spread of COVID-19, are also not thoroughly explored in the analyses [2]. The sources [2] and [2] seem to focus on the negative consequences of school closures, while [4], [5], and [6] do not provide any information on the topic [2] [4] [5] [6].
3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement
The original statement asks how long schools were closed in Canada during COVID-19, but does not provide any context or specify which province or region it is referring to. This lack of specificity may lead to misinformation, as the duration of school closures varied across different provinces and regions, as reported by [1] and [7] [1] [7]. Additionally, some sources, such as [2] and [2], may be biased towards highlighting the negative consequences of school closures, which could influence the reader's perception of the issue [2]. The sources [2] and [2] appear to be from organizations that may have a vested interest in promoting a particular viewpoint, such as the Fraser Institute, which may benefit from emphasizing the negative consequences of school closures [2]. On the other hand, sources like [4], [5], and [6], which do not provide any information on the duration of school closures, may be seen as more neutral, but their lack of information on the topic may also be seen as a bias [4] [5] [6].