‘No grey area:’ Manitoba bans teachers from messaging students on social media

WINNIPEG – The Manitoba government is banning teachers from texting with students or messaging them on social media sites. 

Tracy Schmidt, the province’s education minister, said she has seen a “consistent pattern” of inappropriate communication between school staff and students in misconduct allegations that have crossed her desk. 

“That contributed to the grooming process, and ultimately what are some really tragic and terrifying cases,” she told reporters on Friday. 

“We’re providing clarity for school administrators that there is no grey area. Texting communications between school staff and students is no longer approved in Manitoba.” 

The ban comes after two educators recently lost their teaching certificates for sending inappropriate messages to students.

Manitoba’s independent commissioner of professional conduct echoed Schmidt’s findings, saying that inappropriate messaging is “standing out as a concern.”

“This is really important for everybody involved in the education sector and system to be making sure that the communication and professionalism goes beyond the end of the day,” said Noni Classen. 

An investigation by Classen found that in one case, the teacher engaged in a years-long inappropriate relationship with a student that began in middle school and continued as the student went into high school.

The investigation found that the Winnipeg teacher exchanged hundreds of text messages with the student using his personal phone. He also exchanged more than 1,000 messages with the student through Microsoft Teams. 

The teacher was warned by the principal of the middle school to respect boundaries and to only message with students for educational purposes. 

In the other case, a Portage la Prairie teacher provided his personal cellphone number to a student and communicated with them extensively during the school day, late at night and in the early hours of the morning. 

The school division was eventually contacted by RCMP about the communications between the two. 

Schmidt said school employees will still be able to communicate with students on platforms that are monitored by school divisions or other administrators, such as Microsoft Teams, but it will be up to senior staff to observe the content of those messages. 

She said the province’s directive will help keep kids safe, set expectations for parents and give educators guidelines. 

All schools will be required to share the changes with students, staff and families in their communities. School divisions will be required to report back to the province on updated policies by the end of the year. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2026.