The IPRC in Ontario: What It Is, What Happens at the Meeting, and How It Differs From an IEP

A letter about an IPRC has arrived, or someone at school said the word and you nodded along. This page covers what the committee is, what it may decide, what the meeting looks like, what to ask, and what happens after the decision arrives. It also answers the question parents ask first: how an IPRC differs from an IEP.

Key facts

• IPRC stands for Identification, Placement and Review Committee, and every board must establish one or more (O. Reg. 181/98, s. 10).
• A committee has at least three members, one a principal or supervisory officer employed by the board. No trustee may sit on it (s. 11).
• The principal shall refer your child at the written request of a parent (s. 14(1)(b)), and within 15 days must send you an acknowledgement, the board's parents' guide, and approximately when the committee will meet (s. 14(6)).
• The chair must give written notice of the time and place at least 10 days ahead (s. 5(5)), and you may join all discussions, be present when the decisions are made, and bring a representative (s. 5(1), (3), (4)).
• The committee shall not decide services or programs, only recommend them (s. 16(2), 16(4)).
• A notice of appeal goes to the secretary of the board within 30 days of the statement of decision, or 15 days after a follow-up meeting (s. 26(2)).

What does IPRC stand for, and what does the committee decide?

IPRC stands for Identification, Placement and Review Committee, and it decides two things: whether your child is identified as an exceptional pupil, and, if so, what the placement will be. That is the whole of its decision-making power. The Ministry's page on identifying students puts it the same way, and adds that the committee reviews both at least once a school year.

The limit on that power surprises parents. The committee may discuss any proposal for services or programs, and must do so if you ask (s. 16(1)). It may recommend (s. 16(2)). But subsection 16(4) says it shall not decide them, and 16(6) says a recommendation is not appealable. Reading time, speech therapy minutes, an educational assistant, the software your child uses: none of it is settled at the IPRC table. It is settled in the IEP. One more protection: no pupil may be denied an education program pending a committee meeting or decision (s. 9).

What are the five categories of exceptionality in Ontario?

There are five: behavioural, communicational, intellectual, physical, and multiple. They come from the Education Act, and the definitions boards use sit in the categories of exceptionalities section of the Ministry's policy and resource guide, a page carrying a notice that it dates from 2017.

• Behavioural. A learning disorder characterized by specific behaviour problems, over such a period of time and to such a marked degree as to adversely affect educational performance.
• Communicational. Five definitions sit here: autism, deaf and hard of hearing, language impairment, speech impairment, and learning disability. The learning disability definition, revised by Policy/Program Memorandum No. 8 in 2014, describes a neurodevelopmental disorder in a student whose assessed intellectual abilities are at least average, producing underachievement inconsistent with those abilities.
• Intellectual. Giftedness, mild intellectual disability, developmental disability.
• Physical. Physical disability, blind and low vision.
• Multiple. A combination of disorders, impairments or physical disabilities requiring teachers qualified in special education plus appropriate support services.

A child may be identified under more than one category, and the Ministry is explicit that the determining factor is need, not a diagnosis.

How do I request an IPRC meeting in writing?

Write to the principal. Under subsection 14(1)(b) the principal shall refer your child at a parent's written request, and the Ministry's resource guide says neither the board nor the principal can refuse.

1. Email or deliver the request. Keep a copy and note the date, because the 15 day clock runs from receipt.
2. Ask in the same message for the three things subsection 14(6) requires: an acknowledgement, the parents' guide, and approximately when the committee will meet.
3. Watch for the notice of meeting, due at least 10 days ahead (s. 5(5)), and for the file: the chair must send you information about your child as soon as possible after receiving it (s. 15(8)).
4. Send your own material, and say if you need a representative or an interpreter. The committee must consider what you submit (s. 15(6)).

Wording you can use

Dear [Principal],

I am writing to request, under subsection 14(1)(b) of Ontario Regulation 181/98, that you refer my child, [full name], born [date], in [grade] at [school], to an Identification, Placement and Review Committee for a decision on identification and placement.

Please send me, within 15 days as subsection 14(6) requires, a written acknowledgement, the board's parents' guide, and approximately when the committee expects to meet, plus any reports the chair receives about my child (s. 15(8)).

The committee must obtain and consider an educational assessment (s. 15(1)), and a psychological or health assessment if it decides one is needed for a correct decision (s. 15(2), (3)).

Who attends an IPRC meeting, and what happens?

Three people make up the committee, and several more may be in the room. The resource guide lists the likely additions: the principal, the classroom teacher, special education or board support staff, a representative for you or for a student 16 or older, and an interpreter if required.

The meeting follows a set order. The chair introduces everyone and explains the purpose. The committee reviews the assessments it obtained. Teachers may be asked about achievement, progress, behaviour, and how your child might respond to a change in placement. You are invited to speak. The committee then describes strengths and needs and makes the two decisions, and you are entitled to be there. No transcript is required, but you may take notes.

Bring any reports you hold, psychoeducational, speech-language, occupational therapy or audiology, plus report cards, samples of your child's work, your own dated notes, and a one page summary of strengths and needs in your own words.

Ten questions you can ask

1. Which category and definition are you proposing, and what supports it?
2. What will you write as my child's strengths and needs?
3. Which assessments did you obtain, and did you decide a psychological or health assessment was required?
4. Did you consider a regular class with special education services first?
5. If the decision is a special education class, what are the reasons in writing?
6. What does each placement option look like in this school?
7. Who would teach my child there, and are they a qualified special education teacher?
8. How much direct support, and how much of the day sits outside the regular class?
9. Are you recommending programs or services, and will they appear in the statement?
10. What are my deadlines if I disagree, and who do I send the notice to?

What are the placement options, and what do they mean?

The regulation names two: a regular class and a special education class. Before considering a special education class, the committee must first consider whether a regular class with appropriate special education services would meet your child's needs and fits parental preferences. If it is satisfied on both, it shall decide for the regular class (s. 17). That order is not optional.

Within those two, the Ministry sets out five options boards use:

• Regular class with indirect support. Your child is in the regular class all day, and the teacher receives specialized consultative services. Nobody new works directly with your child.
• Regular class with resource assistance. Specialized instruction, individually or in a small group, inside the classroom, from a qualified special education teacher.
• Regular class with withdrawal assistance. Instruction outside the classroom for less than 50 per cent of the day, from that same qualified teacher.
• Special education class with partial integration. At least 50 per cent of the day in that class at the ratios in Regulation 298, section 31, integrated with a regular class for at least one instructional period daily.
• Full-time special education class. That class all day, at those same ratios.

So indirect support leaves your child's day unchanged and sends the help to the teacher. A special education class means a different room, a smaller ratio and a specialist teacher. Everything between is a question of minutes.

The written statement of decision, and your options after it

The statement of decision is the committee's decision in writing, sent by the chair as soon as possible after it is made, to you, to your child if 16 or older, to the referring principal, and to the board's designated representative (s. 18(1)). If your child was identified, subsection 18(2) requires it to name the categories and definitions of any exceptionalities, describe strengths and needs, give the placement decision, and carry any recommendation about programs or services. A special education class decision must come with reasons.

You then have four routes.

1. Consent. You sign, often on the statement itself, at the meeting or later. The board then tells the principal to develop an IEP, which must be completed and sent to you within 30 school days after placement (s. 6(8)).
2. Ask for a follow-up meeting. Within 15 days of receiving the statement, deliver a written request to the principal (s. 19(1)). The chair must then say in writing whether anything changed, and if so send a revised statement with reasons (s. 19(4)).
3. Ask for a review later. Once the placement has been in effect for three months you may request a review in writing, once in every three month period (s. 21(1)(b), 21(2)). A review also happens yearly unless you dispense with it in writing (s. 21(3), (4)).
4. Appeal. File a notice of appeal with the secretary of the board within 30 days of receiving the statement, or within 15 days of the notice following a follow-up meeting (s. 26(2)). It must say which decision you disagree with and why, and cannot be rejected for imperfect wording (s. 26(4), (5)).

Silence is not a hold: the board implements the placement once a parent consents in writing, or once the appeal window expires with no notice filed (s. 20(1)).

The special education appeal board

It has three members: one selected by the board where your child is placed, one selected by you, and a chair chosen jointly by those two, or by the Ministry's regional manager if they cannot agree (s. 27(1)). Nobody with prior involvement, no board employee and no Ministry employee may be selected (s. 27(4), (5)).

The meeting is informal and happens no more than 30 days after the chair is selected (s. 28(2)). Within three days of ending it, the appeal board agrees with the committee or recommends something else (s. 28(6)). The board then has 30 days to decide, and is not limited to that recommendation (s. 30(1), (2)). Its notice must explain the further right of appeal to the Special Education Tribunal (s. 30(3)). If you reach that step, talk to a lawyer.

Is a gifted identification handled differently?

No, the process is identical, and that is the part parents miss. Giftedness is one of the definitions in the intellectual category, so an identified gifted student is an exceptional pupil under the same regulation as everyone else. The Ministry defines it as an unusually advanced degree of general intellectual ability that requires differentiated learning experiences of a depth and breadth beyond those normally provided in the regular school program.

Two consequences. An IEP must be developed for every student an IPRC identifies, gifted included. And there is one carve-out: the transition plan required at age 14 does not apply to a pupil identified as exceptional solely on the basis of giftedness (s. 6(5)). The resource guide's glossary notes that Policy/Program Memorandum No. 156 goes further, requiring a transition plan for all students with an IEP, including those identified solely as gifted. Boards differ in how they screen for giftedness, so ask for your board's parents' guide, which must explain the committee's procedures (s. 13(1)).

IPRC versus IEP: the difference in plain terms

An IPRC is a decision about status and setting. An IEP is a plan about teaching.

Question	IPRC	IEP
What is it	A committee decision under O. Reg. 181/98	A written plan for programs, accommodations and services
What it settles	Whether your child is an exceptional pupil, and the placement	Expectations, program and services, and how progress is reviewed
Who decides	At least three people, one a principal or supervisory officer	The principal, in consultation with you
Is it required	Only where a parent or principal refers	Required for every identified pupil, and available without identification
Timing	Statement of decision as soon as possible after the decision	Completed and sent to you within 30 school days after placement
Can you appeal it	Yes, to a special education appeal board	The regulation's appeal route covers identification and placement only

The committee shall not decide programs or services (s. 16(4)), so an IPRC never wins you a specific support by itself. And the Ministry's IEP page confirms an IEP may be developed for a student no IPRC has identified.

Common mistakes

• Asking verbally. The duty to refer is triggered by a written request. A hallway conversation starts no clock.
• Treating the meeting as the place to win supports. Take program concerns to the IEP, and use the IPRC to get recommendations into the statement of decision.
• Assuming that not signing protects you. The board implements when the appeal window closes.
• Forgetting the three month review. If a placement is not working, do not wait for the annual review.

Where a consultant fits

Families call us at one of two moments: a letter about an IPRC has arrived and the vocabulary is unfamiliar, or a decision has landed and the 15 and 30 day windows are running.

Through Hourly Consulting we help you decide whether an assessment is the right next step, connect you with psychologists, speech-language pathologists or occupational therapists, and work through a narrow question, such as reading a statement of decision and mapping your dates. Talia does not conduct assessments. Through Assessment Breakdown & Guidance we read a report with you and translate it into what the committee will hear and what you should ask. IEP Review & Strategy picks up where the IPRC leaves off, reviewing the assessments and the school's IEP together and drafting proposed wording for you to bring to the school. Navigating Special Education is a three-session package for families earlier in the process, covering what an IPRC is, determining the right placement, and next steps. School Placement Support covers independent and private options. In most boards a parent may bring a representative under s. 5(3), so ask your principal early.

Frequently asked questions

What does IPRC stand for?

Identification, Placement and Review Committee. Your school board must establish one or more under Ontario Regulation 181/98, section 10. A committee has at least three members, and one must be a principal or a supervisory officer employed by the board. No member of the board of trustees may sit on it. Its job is to decide identification and placement.

Can the school refuse my request for an IPRC?

No. Under subsection 14(1)(b) of O. Reg. 181/98, the principal shall refer your child to a committee at the written request of a parent. The Ministry's resource guide states plainly that neither the board nor the principal can refuse the request. Put the request in writing and keep a copy, because the 15 day clock in subsection 14(6) runs from the day the principal receives it.

Is an IPRC the same as an IEP meeting?

No. An IPRC is a formal committee that decides whether your child is an exceptional pupil and what the placement is. An IEP is the written plan describing the program, accommodations and services. The committee may recommend programs and services, but subsection 16(4) says it shall not decide them. The IEP is developed by the principal in consultation with you.

Can my child have an IEP without an IPRC?

Yes. The Ministry states that an IEP may be developed for a student who has not been identified by an IPRC, if the board decides the student needs a special education program or services to attend school, achieve curriculum expectations or demonstrate learning. Many Ontario students have an IEP with no identification. Identification adds formal exceptional pupil status and the appeal rights that come with it.

Is giftedness an exceptionality in Ontario?

Yes. Giftedness sits in the intellectual category. The Ministry defines it as an unusually advanced degree of general intellectual ability that requires differentiated learning experiences of a depth and breadth beyond those normally provided in the regular school program. A student identified as gifted is an exceptional pupil, so an IEP must be developed.

How long do I have to appeal an IPRC decision?

Thirty days from receipt of the statement of decision if you did not ask for a follow-up meeting. If you did ask for one, it is 15 days from receipt of the notice telling you whether the committee changed its decision. Those windows are in subsection 26(2). The notice of appeal goes to the secretary of the board.

What if I do not sign the statement of decision?

The board implements the placement decision when a parent consents in writing, or when the appeal window closes with no notice of appeal filed. If the board implements without your written consent, it must give you written notice that it has done so. Not signing is not the same as appealing. If you disagree, file the notice of appeal inside the window.

When can I ask for the decision to be reviewed?

You can request a review in writing once the placement has been in effect for three months, and not more often than once in every three month period. Separately, a review is held at least once each school year unless you give the principal written notice dispensing with it. A review committee can confirm the identification and placement or change either one.

Sources

• O. Reg. 181/98: Identification and Placement of Exceptional Pupils, Government of Ontario e-Laws
• Identifying students with special education needs, Ontario Ministry of Education
• Individual education plans, Ontario Ministry of Education
• Special education in Ontario, Kindergarten to Grade 12, policy and resource guide: Categories of exceptionalities, Ontario Ministry of Education
• Special education in Ontario, Kindergarten to Grade 12, policy and resource guide: The identification and placement of exceptional students, Ontario Ministry of Education
• Special education in Ontario, Kindergarten to Grade 12, policy and resource guide: Glossary, Ontario Ministry of Education