Online or virtual schools are organizations that provide formal school courses through Web-based instruction to registered K-12 students as part or all of their educational requirements. Online school courses were first offered in Alberta in 1995 (St. Gabriel Cyber School, www.albertaonline.ab.ca), and since that time, most provinces now offer online courses to school-aged students. The overall number of students is still very small relative to the enrollments in the 119 United States (U.S.) school programs identified by Clarke (2001). There has not been a similar documentation of offerings in Canada. Compared to the specialized development in the U.S., Canadian online school programs are usually part of the offerings of the local school jurisdiction. The student may be a senior taking one course to complete a school diploma, or an elementary student whose illness means that the student is best served by an online program that the student accesses from home. In many provinces, the focus is on secondary provision; however, elementary students can take online courses, also.
The two major providers of online education are school jurisdictions and provincial governments. Many provinces have continued to support distance education for students in grades 1 through 12 and are finding fewer elementary students who register for courses or complete programs compared to the increase in numbers of secondary students. School jurisdictions began by offering online courses, and they gradually formed virtual schools that offered complete programs. In some cases, jurisdictions have collaborated to offer course work, so there are a variety of models of virtual schooling across Canada (Haughey, 2000).