As of July 1, 2024, Ministerial Orders, policies, and other documents pertaining to supports and services for students with disabilities or diverse abilities will be amended to include more current and respectful terminology. These changes align with the Province’s Better Regulations for British Columbians initiative, which aims to make sure B.C. policies are modern and inclusive.
As part of this language modernization project, relevant government documents that reference “special education”, “special needs funding” and “student(s) with special needs” will be updated to replace these terms with “inclusive education”, “inclusive education funding” and “student(s) with disabilities or diverse abilities”, respectively. Outdated website links and policy/document names will also be corrected in these documents as part of the update process.
Please note that these language modernization changes will not alter the policy intent of any Ministerial Orders, policies, and guidance documents, or the interpretation or application of K-12 collective agreements and contracts.