TORONTO -- A new report says Ontario elementary school guidance programs are understaffed.
The report by the parent group People for Education says only 14 per cent of Ontario's elementary schools have at least one guidance counsellor.
It says that's despite the fact the provincial government has stressed the importance of counsellors.
In 2013, the province outlined policy changes that said schools should use guidance counsellors to combine career and life planning programs for students from kindergarten to Grade 12.
The report also says the role of guidance counsellors has shifted to become more multifaceted and critical to student well being, focusing more on things like social-emotional development and mental health.
The report's findings are based on an annual survey of 1,175 responses from elementary and secondary school principals.
The report also found that guidance counsellors are much more likely to be in urban schools, and that elementary schools within the Greater Toronto Area were three times more likely to have a guidance counsellor.
It notes the overall lack of elementary guidance staff is cause for concern, stating "the expertise of guidance counsellors in the areas of mental health and child development can be crucial to fostering student success in elementary school."
Although there is much more representation in secondary schools, where 99 per cent have at least one guidance counsellor, of which 88 per cent are full-time, the report says a similar gap in Ministry guidelines and counsellors' approaches are felt.
Most secondary school principals surveyed indicated the two areas that guidance counsellors focused the most on were "providing course advice and guidance" and "supporting student social-emotional health and well-being."
"There appears to be a gap between the integrated, comprehensive and collaborate approach to guidance that the Ministry has outlined, and the areas of emphasis that schools indicated," the report stated.
The report said that more funding for elementary school guidance counsellors and more evenly distributing staff would help address these issues across the province.
