Ontario teachers to lose licence if found guilty of sexual touching

TORONTO – Ontario teachers found guilty of sexually touching a student will now automatically lose their licence.

The provincial government has amended the legislation that regulates teachers, broadening the scope of when their licenses must be revoked.

Previously, the Ontario College of Teachers would only automatically revoke licences when members were found by the disciplinary committee to be guilty of certain types of sexual abuse: sexual intercourse, masturbation, and genital-to-genital, genital-to-anal, oral-to-genital, or oral-to-anal contact.

It also automatically revokes their licenses when teachers engage in acts involving child pornography.

Tuesday’s amendment adds “touching of a sexual nature of the student’s genitals, anus, breasts or buttocks” to that list.

A statement from the Ministry of Education says the legislation aligns standards for teachers with those for health professionals.