You searched at midnight. You found a wonderful article. It told you to request a 504 plan, cite IDEA, ask for an FBA, and check whether your child qualifies under OHI. None of that exists here.
I'm a Canadian GP, and the mum of two neurodivergent kids. Most of the ADHD advice on your phone is American, and most of it is good — for Americans. The science travels. The system does not. This is the translation guide I wished I'd had.
The brain science is the same on both sides of the border: the thirty percent gap, time blindness, the brake that arrives late, the medication that opens a window but doesn't teach the skill. Read all of that from anyone good.
What doesn't travel is everything with a form attached: how your child gets assessed, who can diagnose, what the school is obliged to do, what the plan is called, how you appeal, and how long you wait. That is provincial. Ontario is not Ohio. Alberta is not Alabama.
| You'll read (US) | What it means here |
|---|---|
| 504 plan | Doesn't exist. Ask for an IEP (Ontario, BC), IPP (Alberta) or plan d'intervention / PEI (Québec) built on accommodations. Same idea, different door. |
| IDEA (the federal special-education law) | No federal equivalent. Your province's Education Act plus the human-rights duty to accommodate do the work. Rules change at the provincial border. |
| "Qualifies under OHI" (Other Health Impairment) | Not a Canadian category. In Ontario, ADHD doesn't map neatly onto the five IPRC exceptionalities — but a school can still write an IEP for a student who hasn't been formally identified. Ask anyway, in writing. |
| IEP meeting (US, legally scheduled, parent is a team member by statute) | The meeting exists everywhere; the legal weight varies. In Ontario the formal process is the IPRC; the IEP itself can be developed without one. You are a signatory, not an audience — ask for the draft five school days before you sign. |
| FBA / BIP (functional behaviour assessment / behaviour intervention plan) | Some boards do a version of this; there's no standard national form. Ask for "a plan for what happens when he's dysregulated, in writing, in the IEP." |
| "Get a neuropsych" | A psychoeducational assessment by a psychologist. Public routes wait months to well over a year; private runs roughly $2,000–$4,500 and is rarely covered. You do not need it to start school supports. |
| "Ask your pediatrician for a referral to a psychiatrist" | In much of Canada your GP can assess, diagnose and start treatment. A paediatrician or psychiatrist is often not required to begin. |
| "Check your insurance" | Physician visits are covered provincially. Psychologists usually aren't; medication coverage depends on your province's plan and any workplace benefits. |
| Advocate (paid, common) | Rarer here, and rarely needed to start. A private educational advocate typically charges $100–200 an hour; most families do the first round themselves with the right five sentences. |
Ontario. The plan is an IEP; the formal identification process is the IPRC, and a school can write an IEP without one. Put the request in writing to the principal, name the specific accommodations, and ask for the draft before the meeting where you're asked to sign. The front page of every report card grades six learning skills — the ones an ADHD brain finds hardest — before any subject.
Alberta. The plan is an IPP. Assessment routes run through your physician or the school; private assessments are common in Calgary and Edmonton because of waits. The language you want is "specialized supports" and "individualized program plan", in writing.
British Columbia. IEP, with designation categories that decide funding; ADHD alone often doesn't carry a designation, so the accommodations conversation matters more than the label. Ask for the plan on demonstrated need.
Québec. The plan d'intervention (PI), and in English boards the IEP/PEI. The school must involve you in developing it. Everything on this site exists in French for exactly this reason — including the toolkit.
You do not need a diagnosis to say any of them. The duty to accommodate covers suspected need. Your child can't wait a year for a report to start getting help on a Tuesday.
Free one-pager tonight; the full bilingual playbook if the meeting is Tuesday.
Free 5-Line IEP ScriptThe IEP Advocacy Toolkit — CAD $27