The Ontario Principals’ Council (OPC) is a voluntary professional association representing 5,000 practising school leaders in elementary and secondary schools across Ontario. We believe that exemplary leadership results in outstanding schools and improved student achievement. We foster quality leadership through world-class professional services and supports, striving to continuously achieve “quality leadership – our principal product.”
As an ISO 9001 compliant organization, the OPC’s mission is to promote and develop exemplary leadership for student success in Ontario’s schools. The design and delivery of its training and professional learning programs and the provision of support services have obtained this internationally recognized standard for quality management.
The OPC offers a broad range of opportunities dedicated exclusively to the professional development and certification of principals, vice-principals and supervisory officials. In addition to the design and provision of accreditation programs, the OPC has developed customized programs for school administrators in Canada and around the world. A key role of the principal and vice-principal is the monitoring and support for teachers in implementing standards-based education that maximizes teaching and learning opportunities for every child.
Education Leadership Canada (ELC), a division of OPC, has accredited over 8000 principals in Ontario since the beginning of the accreditation program in 2000 and has licensed over 750 supervisory officials since the start of the certification program in 2002. With this, the OPC is one of Canada’s foremost training organizations for school leaders, as well as the largest provider of principal certification programs in Ontario. These certification programs are now recognized by both Ontario and International Universities.
The OPC works very closely with the Ministry of Education in Ontario to ensure that school leaders have the required practices, skills and attitudes to maximize learning conditions for all students. The Ministry of Education also consults and contracts with the OPC on a continuous and frequent basis. As a professional association, the OPC is able to design, develop and deliver professional learning that is practical, scholarly and current. All branches of the Ministry of Education work with the OPC, as do the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT), the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO), Faculties of Education, all curriculum associations, Ontario Education Research Strategy and all school districts across the province.