WRDSB student census data released

The results of the first-ever student census conducted by the Waterloo Region District School Board have been released.

Over 30,000 students completed the voluntary survey sent out to parents and students last April.

Questions focused in part on students' Indigenous status, ethnic/cultural background, racial identity, first language, citizenship status, gender identity, religious affiliation, and health disability status.

The school board says, 40 per cent of parents and guardians of students in Kindergarten to Grade 3, and approximately 50 per cent of students in Grades 4 to 12 participated in the census survey. 

In a release, WRDSB Director of Education Jeewan Chanicka says, “It is important that we know the identities and experiences of the students we serve, so that we can be more precise in the ways we support them …The census data will be instrumental in helping us address differences and gaps in the system to ensure that any student's identity does not predict their outcome.”

The board says the census is mandated for all school boards in Ontario under the Provincial Anti-Racism Act. 

Some of the key findings are listed below: 

• Nearly 3 per cent of students who participated identify as Indigenous, representing 66 Nations, communities and identities.
• Census participants identified with more than 200 different ethnic and cultural origins.
• Racialized students make up one-third of the student census participants. Just over 7 per cent of students identified having more than one or a mixed racial identity.
• WRDSB students who participated reported more than 200 languages as their first language, including 5 Indigenous first languages.
• The most common religions identified in the Census were Christianity and Islam, while approximately two out of five students identified as agnostic, atheist or having no religious or spiritual affiliation.
• More than 4 per cent of student participants in Grades 4 to 12 self-identified with a 2SLGBTQIA+ gender.
• Nearly 24 per cent of student participants in Grades 7 to 12 self-identified with at least one 2SLGBTQIA+ sexual orientation.
• Approximately 7 per cent of participating students reported a disability or health condition.

In the new school year, this September, school-specific data will be shared across the community, along with conversations around how to use and properly understand the data. 

A full break down of the data can be found here.