Ontario School for the Blind

• Ontario School for the Blind

• W. Ross Macdonald School

• Brantford Institution for the Blind

The Ontario Institution for the Education of the Blind was founded in May, 1872. The school fell under the jurisdiction of the Inspector of Asylums and Public Charities, renamed Inspector of Prisons and Public Charities in 1876, of the Department of the Provincial Secretary.

In 1904 the School was moved into the Department of Education. In 1913 the name was changed by statute to the Ontario School for the Blind. By 1944, the School reported through the Professional Training Branch. From 1956 until 1964, it reported through the Special Services Branch. In 1965 the Ontario School for the Blind became part of the Schools for the Blind and the Deaf Division (Section in 1967) of the Special Schools and Services Branch. In 1968 the Schools for the Blind and the Deaf Section became a separate Branch.

When the Department of Education was reorganized into the Ministry of Education in 1972, the Ontario School for the Blind reported through the Provincial Schools Branch. In 1973, the Ontario School for the Blind was reconstructed and renamed the W. Ross Macdonald School. It was part of the Special Education Branch from 1974 to 1979, the Provincial Schools Branch from 1979 to 1987, and the Special Education and Provincial Schools Branch from 1987 to 1993.

In 1993, the W. Ross Macdonald School was moved to the new Ministry of Education and Training and, later that year, it reported through the Provincial Schools Project Team. Since 1996, the W. Ross Macdonald School has been in the Provincial Schools Branch

The Ontario School for the Blind provided instructional training to blind people in Ontario. The Ontario School for the Blind was a residential and day school for visually impaired aged 6 to 21 years resident in Ontario and it provided resource services to local school boards and to parents of pre-school blind children.

RAD: Rules for Archival Description, 2nd edn (2008)

2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM

Canadianna Name Authorities

Archivist(s):
Gorton