A four-year review of Ontario school policy, hospital intake rules, and outside groups operating in classrooms documented school secrecy and a school-to-gender clinic referral pipeline.
While school boards are directing teachers to keep student social and medical gender transitions secret from parents, one of the province’s largest children’s hospitals is simultaneously recognizing those same teachers as referral sources for its gender clinic.
Those are among the findings compiled in a new report examining how school policies, outside organizations, and medical services intersect to create a “school-to-medical transition pipeline,” according to the author.
Report author and Waterloo parent David Todor spent years collecting government records, analyzing school board procedures, evaluating public resources, and engaging in correspondence with his board and the Ministry of Education between 2022 and 2026.
While Todor’s local board is the one cited as saying Waterloo public schools “shall not disclose a student’s gender status” to parents or guardians, a Juno News investigation found that to be the case for schools across the province.
And it’s not just schools. The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario’s website identifies teachers and guidance counsellors among those permitted to refer patients to its Gender Diversity Clinic.
Yes, that means parents need not be involved.
We really don’t know how frequently, if at all, teachers make these kinds of referrals or if they lead to medical treatment. Schools don’t like to disclose that kind of information after all. The report nevertheless establishes a formal connection between schools and clinics providing gender-related treatment.
“Vulnerable children can be progressively moved toward increasingly consequential gender-affirming interventions,” Todor told Juno News.
He said this can happen through school policy, repeated messaging, and access to outside organizations and services “all without parents being fully informed or involved.”
Todor’s report also examined relationships between schools and these “outside organizations.”
One such example is board material describing OK2BME as a valued community partner for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth. The organization has published material teaching minors how to access gender-related medical interventions.
Another group, Get REAL, works with schools and provides binders, gaffs, and packers to minors as a form of “harm reduction.” They call these prosthetic genitals “gender joy gear” and say that teens 13–18 need parental consent first.
The report even outlines the risks of student surveys that ask children about their gender identity, sexual orientation, mental health, disabilities, and family circumstances.
Todor challenged a Waterloo Region survey in March 2026 and requested that his child be exempted. He said officials characterized his objections as personal “feelings” and “opinions” before directing him to the Ministry of Education.
His report argues that the data collected through these surveys could help schools identify vulnerable or distressed youth for targeted intervention by educators or third parties, without parental knowledge, let alone consent.
Todor first approached then-education minister Jill Dunlop in November 2024 with questions about provincial oversight and whether they approved of the outside organizations operating in schools.
Internal ministry records previously obtained by Juno News showed how ministry bureaucrats showed no interest in reviewing Todor’s evidence.
“I thought we discussed no longer responding to him?” one bureaucrat said. “Just because he has a blog doesn’t mean we have to respond.”
Another contemptuous email exchange discussed using a ministry cease-and-desist template. Officials also described material connected to his correspondence as “hateful and trans-phobic.”
“I thought they would be happy to receive my feedback,” Todor said.
“After I exhausted the avenues available to me for reporting these concerns, I felt the only option left was to make the documentation public.”
Todor is calling for stronger parental notification requirements, an independent investigation of school partnerships, and protections for parents and educators who raise concerns.
The Ministry of Education, Waterloo Region District School Board, and Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario did not respond to requests for comment.
The report is available to read online.
Great reporting Melanie!