School Crossing Guard Program

Criteria for New Locations:

In order for the requested location to be considered, the following criteria must be met. If any of the criteria below are not met, the location is not eligible for a school crossing guard and the application will not be considered.

1. The requested location is on a roadway with a posted speed limit less than 60 km/h.
2. The associated school has an age range between Junior Kindergarten and Grade 5. Therefore, the following are not eligible for a new school crossing guard application: before or after school programs, Montessori, childcare, middle school, or high school.
3. The requested location is within the walking boundary or within 1.5km of the associated school.
4. The requested location for a school crossing guard is on a public road and does not cross a private driveway.
5. You have the completed endorsement forms from the school principal and ward councillor, ready to be uploaded to the online application.

New Application Process and Timeline:

As part of the process to request a school crossing guard at a new location, the school principal and ward councillor’s endorsement and completion of the online application is required.

(1) Request Endorsements

1. Prior to submitting your request, please contact the school principal and ward councillor to obtain a completed endorsement form. The links to download the endorsement forms are provided below.
   • School principal endorsement form Download the form and email it to the appropriate school principal for completion.
   • Ward councillor endorsement form Download the form and email it to the appropriate ward councillor for completion. Please visit the Ward Profile page to find the applicable ward.
2. Once you receive the two completed forms back from the principal and the ward councillor, proceed to step 2 below to submit your online application where you will upload the forms.

(2) Complete Online Application

1. Complete the online application by providing all the required information and upload the completed endorsement forms from the school principal and ward councillor.
2. Ensure that you submit only one location per online application. You will receive an on-screen confirmation that your application has been successfully submitted at the end. Obtain your reference ID number and your responses by downloading the respondent report upon completion.
3. The online application must be fully completed and submitted to be considered. Timed-out or partially completed online applications will not be reviewed.

(3) Application Processing Timelines

*Provision of service is dependent on budget approval/availability of funding and is a minimum of 12 months after the submission deadline.

All applications received by the submission deadline are studied in a batch according to the timeline shown in the table above, which are typically in the Spring and Fall of each year. The data is collected during the warmer months of the year in the Spring and Fall when the vehicle and student pedestrian volumes provide the most accurate representation of the counts which are necessary for completing the data analysis. Data collection is not performed outside the months outlined in the timeline above.

The City of Toronto will not be providing status updates on applications outside of the Notification of Results period as outlined in the timeline above.

School crossing guards are not hired directly by the City of Toronto.

The City of Toronto hires external suppliers that provide school crossing guard services in different City Zones. In this section you will find:

• Supplier Information
• Information on new applications to become a school crossing guard

Supplier Information

The suppliers providing school crossing guard services are:

View the map of Suppliers and Community Council Boundaries.

New Application to become a School Crossing Guard

The City works closely with the schools and suppliers to establish service requirements for the morning, lunch and dismissal shift periods. If you believe a new shift time is needed at a specific school crossing guard location, you can submit a shift time change request for review.

Before submitting a request, please consult with the school principal or school staff to confirm whether the proposed shift time change meets the school’s requirements. If you are a school staff, please proceed with submitting the request.

Once the request is received, the City will contact the school principal to confirm the requested shift time change. Each request will be carefully evaluated based on the schedules and safety needs of the associated schools utilizing the school crossing guard services at the location.

To request a change in shift time for a school crossing guard location, please submit a service request online, or through the 311 Toronto Mobile App or by calling 311 to submit a service request.

Reporting Absence or Misconduct Incidents

If you wish to report concerns about a school crossing guard’s conduct, or would like to report a school crossing guard that has not shown up for their shift please submit a service request online, or through the 311 Toronto Mobile App or by calling 311 to submit a service request. This will start a formal investigation. We will investigate and respond to your concern.

Please ensure you have the following details available:

• location/intersection
• date and time of incident
• reason for call

For all other inquiries, please email SchoolCrossingGuard@toronto.ca.

Reporting Compliments

If you’ve had a positive experience with a school crossing guard, we would like to hear from you. Compliments must be for a school crossing guard within the City of Toronto. Compliments will be shared with the school crossing guard and their employer. Please submit your compliment using the online form. Thank you for taking the time to recognize the important work school crossing guards do to keep our children safe.

As per the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, where a school-crossing guard displays a red and white stop sign, you must stop before reaching the crossing and remain stopped until all people, including the school crossing guard, have cleared the entire roadway and it is safe to proceed. If you have any doubts about when it is safe to drive forward, wait until all the children and the guard have cleared the crossing. Drivers who don’t follow the stopping requirements may receive a substantial fine and get three demerit points.

Drivers and cyclists traveling through school zones should exercise caution during peak hours to ensure the safety of pedestrians. The City recommends:

• Reducing speed when approaching school zones and residential areas
• Staying patient and being attentive to pedestrians, particularly when turning
• Yielding and stopping when required near streetcars, school buses and transit stops
• Respecting designated drop off and pick up locations

The locations of the school crossing guards can be viewed using the Vision Zero Mapping Tool. To view these locations when using the Vision Zero Mapping Tool, turn on the “School Crossing Guard Locations” layer found in the “Safety Measures” tab of the filters.