Population: 159,249
Number of K-12 Schools: 63
Number of K-12 Students: 20,131
—
Number of K-12 Distance Learning Programs: 1
Number of K-12 Distance Learning Students: ~200

Note that these profiles are taken from the most recent edition of the report, please review additional annual profiles below.

Governance and Regulation

While there is no reference to distance education in the Education Act, 2016, pursuant to section 8 of the School Act, 1988, there have been three Ministerial Directives concerning distance education (i.e., first Ministerial Directive No. MD 2001-05, which was superseded by Ministerial Directive No. MD 2008-05, and later Ministerial Directive No. MD 2016-05), the final of which indicated:

Distance Education Courses

12. An education authority may grant credit to a student for an educational activity provided through a distance education course or a correspondence course, during or outside of normal school hours, if

a) the course is approved by the Department;

b) the student’s participation in the course is supervised by a teacher or a person who is registered as a teacher in another province or territory; and

c) the course is approved by the principal of the student’s school as being appropriate for the student’s academic program prior to the commencement of the course.

13. The credit granted for the educational activity under section 12 shall not be for the equivalent course offered by an education authority unless it is approved as an equivalent credit by the Department. (Government of Prince Edward Island, 2022, p. 24)

Additionally, as a part of the Online Learning Handbook (2025), the Department of Education and Early Years (2025) adjusted the definition in their handbook to better reflect student eligibility and school responsibilities for online learning. The current definition reads:

“Sometimes referred to as distance education, online learning offers course content online, organized in an environment called a learning management system (LMS). The system includes a host of virtual communication and collaboration tools. Online learning courses have similar expectations and instructional content as a course offered in school, including diagnostic assessments as well as formative and summative assessment tasks. Online courses approved by the Department of Education and Early Years offer credits in the same way as traditional classes do.”

This change reflected schools’ understanding of how they could access online learning for students, not as an option in their block scheduling, but rather as a graduation requirement pathway for students in special circumstances.

K-12 Distance and Online Learning Activity

The most recent response indicated that there were 68 students enrolled in a virtual provincial alternative education programme during the 2024-25 school year.

Additionally, through an inter-provincial agreement students in Prince Edward Island are funded to take online courses from the New Brunswick Virtual Learning Centre and the Ontario Virtual School. During the 2024-25 school year there were 168 students enrolled in online courses from the New Brunswick Virtual Learning Centre.

Finally, through an inter-provincial agreement students in Prince Edward Island are funded to take online courses from the New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. During the 2022-23 school year there were 125 students enrolled in online courses through this agreement.

K-12 Blended Learning Activity

According to the Department, there was no intentional blended learning (i.e., specific projects or initiatives) occurring in public schools.

Remote Learning

The Department of Education and Lifelong Learning: Annual Report 2021-2022 indicated that:

COVID-19 Response to Distance Education

In order to support immunocompromised students, Department staff, in conjunction with Student Services at the PSB, sought virtual programming through the New Brunswick Virtual Learning Centre, Blyth Academy, and Ontario Virtual School. Students were enrolled in several PEI equivalent courses offered by these providers during both semesters. (Government of Prince Edward Island, 2023, p. 35)

Note that as of 01 December 2023, the annual report for the 2023-24 school year was not available.

References

Department of Education and Early Years. (2025). Online learning handbook (2025). Government of Prince Edward Island.

Government of Prince Edward Island. (2016). Ministerial directive no. MD 2016-05: Granting of credit for educational activities not provided by an education authority. https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/sites/default/files/publications/eelc_md_2016_05.pdf

Previous Provincial Profiles

History of K-12 E-Learning

According to the Department of Education, Early Learning and Culture, historically students could enroll in correspondence courses offered through the New Brunswick Community College system to gain secondary school credit with certain restrictions.

Beginning in the early 2000s, Prince Edward Island schools had used a locally developed distance education video conferencing system. Throughout the decade the use of this method of distance education decreased significantly. In fact, since the beginning of this study in 2008, the video conferencing system was used solely for the purpose of French-language school board high school courses.  During the 2010–11 school year, there were two students enrolled in a single course offered through this system. There was no video conferencing activity for distance education purposes in 2011–12.  While still available, this system has not been used for teaching purposes since 2014.

In addition to the provincial video conferencing system, students in Prince Edward Island have the ability to access some online courses offered by the New Brunswick Ministry of Education.  This ability appeared to correspond with the decline of the province’s own video conferencing distance education.

Vignettes

Individual Program Survey Responses

Program Most recent response  Medium  # of Students  # of Teachers  # of Courses 
N/A

To update this information, visit http://tinyurl.com/sotn-program-survey

Inter-provincial and International

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development approves distance courses by correlating outcomes found in online programs to those found in the Prince Edward Island authorized curriculum documents.  Students must apply in advance to enroll in approved courses through their school principal.  Students completing online programs are awarded the Prince Edward Island equivalent course on their school mark transcripts.

As Prince Edward Island does not offer any distance education programs of its own, students from other jurisdictions are unable to enroll in their courses to receive credit.