A widespread data breach affecting PowerSchool, a common software used by schools globally, has significantly impacted Canadian school boards. Investigations are ongoing to determine the full extent of the breach and its consequences for students, staff, and parents.
A recent data breach affecting PowerSchool, a software widely used by educational institutions globally, has revealed a significant scope of the incident, impacting school boards in Canada , the United States, and beyond. The breach, occurring in late December, compromised student and staff data stored within the PowerSchool systems.
Global News conducted extensive outreach to provincial and territorial education departments across Canada to ascertain the extent of the breach's impact within each jurisdiction. Several provinces, including Quebec, New Brunswick, Nunavut, British Columbia, and Yukon, confirmed that their school boards were not affected, with some citing the absence of PowerSchool software within their respective education systems.Through communication with officials, website visits, and direct contact with individual school districts and divisions, Global News confirmed that more than 75 school boards in affected provinces have reported experiencing data breaches. Specific details regarding the number of impacted school boards were provided by Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and the Northwest Territories. In Newfoundland, both NLSchools and Conseil scolaire francophone de Terre-Neuve et Labrador were impacted, while the Public Schools Branch and La Commission scolaire de langue française: Accueil in Prince Edward Island were also affected.Manitoba referred inquiries to individual school divisions, with at least 21 divisions confirming or posting notices indicating their involvement in the breach. Ontario's Ministry of Education directed inquiries to PowerSchool, which has yet to provide a comprehensive breakdown of the affected areas. However, Ontario's Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner informed Global News that as of January 28, 20 school boards had contacted them regarding potential data access following the breach. Notably, Alberta officials also declined to provide specific details about the number of affected school boards. However, several school boards in Alberta, including the Calgary Board of Education, Edmonton Catholic School Division, Red Deer Public Schools, Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education, and Medicine Hat Public School Division, have publicly acknowledged the breach on their respective websites. The total number of students, staff, and parents impacted remains partially unknown, with only some school boards publicly disclosing the extent of the breach within their jurisdictions. However, the Toronto and Peel school boards confirmed that over 2.46 million students were affected. The number of impacted staff members is less readily available, although Peel reported 18,760 staff members were affected, and Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education in Nova Scotia reported 3,200 employees impacted. Investigations into the scope and consequences of the breach are ongoing, leading to potential updates regarding the number of impacted schools
DATASECURITY EDUCATION CANADA POWER SCHOOL DATA BREACH SCHOOL BOARDS
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