The supervisors that the Ford government sent into five Ontario school boards to deal with alleged mismanagement and financial issues will be eligible to claim up to $40,000 in expenses, Global News can reveal, although the ministry says they’ll be subject to strict rules.
Some of the province’s biggest school boards, including in Ottawa, Toronto and Peel, have been under the direct control of Queen’s Park since Education Minister Paul Calandra sidelined their trustees and replaced them with supervisors.
The individuals tapped by the province to run those school boards can bill up to $350,000 per year, the government confirmed last week, money Calandra said he expects them to charge because of the work they have to do.
“The boards that they have taken over are in such a mess that I expect the supervisors to work to the maximum of their contract to put it back on the right track,” he told reporters.
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“If you’re asking me, do I expect that they’ll spend $350,000, each of those supervisors, it is my expectation that they will. If they spend less, good for them.”
Now, a portion of the agreement between the government and the supervisors, obtained by Global News using freedom of information laws, reveals that supervisors will also be eligible to claim expenses.
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The payment framework covers a two-year appointment term, during which time the amount the supervisors can receive “shall not exceed” $740,000 — $700,00 in compensation over two years and $40,000 for expenses.
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The expenses they can claim will be covered by Ontario’s travel, meal and hospitality expenses directive.
That precludes claiming commuting as an expense or claiming for accommodation near work. It sets out the conditions under which someone can claim airfare, mileage, or hotel stays as part of performing their public work.
The minister’s office said Calandra would be closely monitoring the expenses claimed by supervisors to ensure they were legitimate and highlighted that they wouldn’t guarantee repayment.
Expenses must be paid by the supervisors first and then submitted to the government, along with a receipt. They won’t be paid back until the ministry is “satisfied” with the service provided or the expense, which must directly relate to their work as a supervisor.
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Critics, however, have questioned why supervisors need an expense budget which could go as high as $40,000, particularly given the focus Calandra put on claims made by trustees.
Not long after taking over the Toronto Catholic District School Board, Calandra’s office posted a number of examples of unusual expenses which they ultimately ordered trustees to repay.
They included a milkshake, an Apple Watch strap and various technological accessories.
“After the minister of education made such a big stink about expenses, to know he is also giving (supervisors) these large expense accounts — it’s absolutely outrageous,” Ontario NDP MPP Chandra Pasma said.
“Supervisors aren’t taking meetings with members of the public, so they don’t have that expense to sit down in a coffee shop and go over things with a parent; they’re not attending committee meetings. I don’t know what a supervisor would be spending $40,000 on.”
A spokesperson for the education minister reiterated Calandra’s expectation that supervisors would put school boards back on the track Queen’s Park wants them to be on.
“Whether it’s wasting millions of dollars on internal legal disputes or lavish vacations and personal expenses, we are acting to get boards back on track,” they wrote in a statement.
“The compensation for supervisors reflects the complex work required to fix the mismanagement left by trustees.”
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Pasma said any supervisory expenses approved by the Ministry of Education should be proactively made public for parents to scrutinize.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
