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Renewal Needs Backlog

The Toronto District School Board’s Renewal Needs Backlog (RNB) list identifies approximately 25,600 different repairs needed in our schools. The total value of those repairs was $4.45 billion as of January 2025.

It is important to understand that these repairs do not represent a health or safety concern. Safety is a top priority for us at the TDSB and our maintenance plans are always focused on providing safe places for our students and staff. To achieve that, we fix the most critical problems related to health and safety first. Also, while components in a school building may be past their life expectancy (e.g. water boiler), they are in good condition and meet all required safety codes.

Seventy per cent of the building components in the current RNB are in critical or poor condition. Our limited funding does not allow us to replace all of these components as we use a big portion of the funding to temporarily repair them to extend their useful service life for another year or two. This does not mean that the repaired building component is removed from the backlog; it means that its replacement will be postponed.

The Ministry of Education’s consultant, who assesses the condition of TDSB schools, takes this into consideration when updating their database and postpones the replacement action for another year or two. Although this makes the RNB for the current year drop, it doesn’t impact the projected long-term backlog which could hit $5.15 billion by 2029.

Key Facts

Learn more about Facility Condition Index (FCI).

  • If additional funding provided by the Ministry over the last ten years is discontinued and/or reduced, and no additional funding is provided, we estimate that our renewal repairs backlog (RNB) would be as follows:
    • January 2026: $4.65 billion
    • January 2027: $4.8 billion
    • January 2028 $5.0 billion
    • January 2029 $5.15 billion
  • The Board needs predictable and sustainable funding for school repairs to allow the TDSB to continue implementing its long-term plan for renewal and lower the renewal needs backlog.
  • Lack of sufficient funding has a direct impact on the operation of schools.
  • Approximately seventy per cent of the repairs we make over the year are considered “urgent” or “high priority”.
  • The TDSB does not qualify for Education Development Charges (EDC’s) because there is surplus space in the system.

How to View the Data

To find the RNB list for a particular school, please visit the Find Your School page and choose the name of the school. On each individual school web page you will see a ” Renewal Needs and FCI” link in the navigation menu on the left side of the page. The data corresponds to 2025.

Sample Report

Item
Heating Boilers - Boiler #1 Renewal
Exterior Windows - Original Building Renewal
Fittings - Washroom Partitions Renewal
Wall Finishes - Paint Renewal

 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why does the Renewal Needs Backlog keep increasing?

The Ministry of Education hires external consultants to inspect each school once every five years. That means that 20 percent of our schools are inspected every year. As part of this assessment, components that need to be repaired or replaced are identified.

Approximately 50 percent of our schools are over 60 years old and building components continue to age requiring major repairs or replacement.

Years of underfunding for school boards school repairs, especially from the 1990s to the mid-2000s, saw the renewal backlog rise rapidly at the TDSB. In the last ten years, we have seen a considerable increase in the annual provincial allocation to the TDSB, an average of $290 million per year. However, this increase hasn’t kept pace with the rapidly aging school facilities in need of major repairs or replacements. Approximately seventy percent of the building components in the RNB are in critical or poor condition.

Funding

School Year Provincial Grant Recent History and Projected Backlog
2028-2029 TBA $5.15 billion (projected as of January 2029)
2027-2028 TBA $5.0 billion (projected as of January 2028)
2026-2027 TBA $4.8 billion (projected as of January 2027)
2025-2026 TBA $4.65 billion (projected as of January 2026)
2024-2025 $296 million $4.45 billion (as of January 2025)
2023-2024 $293 million $4.38 billion (as of January 2024)
2022-2023 $292 million $4.2 billion (as of January 2023)
2021-2022 $275 million $4.0 billion (as of January 2022)
2020-2021 $312 million $4.1 billion (as of January 2021)
2019-2020 $292 million $3.8 billion (as of January 2020)
2018-2019 $299 million $3.9 billion (as of January 2019)
2017-2018 $297 million $4.0 billion (as of January 2018)
2016-2017 $308 million $3.4 billion (as of September 2016)
2015-2016 $276 million $3.1 billion (as of September 2015)
2014-2015 $74.8 million $2.9 billion (as of September 2014)

Note: The funding we receive is based on a school year (Sept. 1 to Aug. 31).

2. How do you calculate the Renewal Needs Backlog?

At the beginning of the year, as advised by the consultant retained by the Ministry of Education, we calculate the backlog for that calendar year.

As of January 1, 2025 the backlog was $4.45 billion, but if we add the $200 million needed for repairs in 2026 this amount increases to $4.65 billion. The RNB usually decreases as we complete projects and update our database over the year, and it increases in January, when we add the RNB for that new calendar year to the backlog.

See recent history below that shows continuous rise:

Time Amount
January 2019 $3.9 billion
January 2020 $3.8 billion
June 2020 $3.7 billion
January 2021 $4.1 billion
January 2022 $4.0 billion

3. When do you update the Renewal Needs Backlog?

We have traditionally updated the backlog in September of every year; however, in January 2018, the database started considering the calendar year instead of the school year in assigning the action year for repair requirements. As a result, the TDSB now updates its RNB in January of every year instead of September.

4. What are the 25,600 different repairs identified in the RNB list?

Every five years, an independent consultant hired by the Ministry of Education assesses the condition of each school based on a standard list of major building components.

This list includes components such as roofing, heating systems, floor finishes, fencing, windows, parking lots, ceiling finishes, foundations, windows and building automation systems. In addition, the TDSB compiles a RNB list for each of its schools. To find the list for your school, please visit: Find Your School.

5. Does the provincial funding for the 2024-2025 school year include money for air conditioning?

For the 2024-2025 school year, the TDSB received $296 million in provincial funding. The total includes $248M of School Condition Improvement (SCI) funds and $48M of School Renewal Allocation (SRA) funds. The SCI funds must be used to replace/repair building components identified during the Ministry’s school inspections, helping to reduce the FCI of school buildings.

The SRA funds may be used to install additional air conditioning units, but most of these funds are committed to higher priority projects. These include unplanned emergency and urgent replacement of building components such as heating systems, electrical panels, leaking roofs, etc., resulting from the Board’s large maintenance backlog, as well as, government mandated compliance programs.

6. Besides provincial funding, which other sources the TDSB has available for repairs?

TDSB’s main source of funding is from the provincial government. In addition, when the Board sells a parcel of land or building, it can use that money to address the renewal backlog. TDSB does not qualify for Education Development Charges (EDCs) because there is surplus space across the system.