As the school year is fast approaching, updates to the Ontario Physical Activity Safety Standards in Education (OPASSE) are getting ready to be released later this month in Ophea’s annual Summary of Revisions to OPASSE. The Summary of the September 2025 Revisions document is intended to assist school board/school leaders, teachers, supervisors and coaches stay informed about what is new or has been removed in safety related to curricular, intramural, and interschool physical activity to help ensure programs reflect current safety standards, support student well-being, and promote equitable participation.
Three significant updates for this year include:
- an updated Concussion Protocol that aligns with current research and simplifies the Return to Learn and Return to Physical Activity process;
- a revised approach to swim safety and assessments that keep all students safe in, on, and around water while reducing participation barriers and maximizing participation; and
- a more intentional focus on inclusive safety, building on last year’s Disability-Centred Safety work and embedding equity into safety planning and standards.
Updated Concussion Protocol: Streamlined and Aligned with Current Research
The updated Concussion Protocol, released through OPASSE, helps school boards meet the requirements of School Board Policies on Concussion: PPM158 while aligning with the latest evidence on concussion care. Informed by the Amsterdam Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport, 2022, Parachute’s Canadian Guideline on Concussion in Sport, 2nd Edition, 2024,, and the Living Guideline for Pediatric Concussion, the protocol reflects a more flexible, student-centred approach.
What’s New:
- Simplified stages: Return to Learn (RTL) and Return to Physical Activity (RTPA) stages have been consolidated to streamline communication and strengthen alignment.
- Mild symptoms are acknowledged as part of the recovery process: Brief or mild symptoms in early stages (Stages 1 to 3) are recognized as part of the recovery process and manageable.
- Earlier return to school: Students may return as early as Stage 2, even when symptoms are mild and brief.
- Earlier medical clearance: Medical clearance is now required after RTPA Stage 3 to ensure readiness for more intense physical activity.
- Reassessment after medical clearance: If symptoms return after medical clearance, the student must return to Stage 3 and be reassessed by a medical doctor or nurse practitioner.
To support these updates, existing tools and resources have been updated, with the addition of new tools developed and the Concussion Prevention, Identification, and Management for Schools e-Learning module has been updated to support school boards (the 2025/26 e-Learning module will be available the week of August 25th). School boards are encouraged to review their local policies to align with these updates and prioritize safe, supported identification, management, and recovery for all students.
Revised Approach to Swim Safety and Assessments: Keeping all students safe in, on, and around water while reducing participation barriers
Opportunities for students to participate in watercraft and water-based physical activities continue to provide rich learning opportunities that require thoughtful risk-management procedures. This year’s updates include a holistic, inclusive, and risk-informed approach to swim assessments, designed to both enhance safety and reduce participation barriers.
All watercraft and water-based activities have been reviewed and updated based on shared risks, ensuring consistent and aligned safety standards.
The swim assessment now includes one of two assessment pathways:
- Sample Swim Ability and Swim Comfort Assessment Questionnaire:
Used when Personal Floatation Devices (PFDs) or lifejackets are worn at all times in, on, or around water. This sample tool encourages educators to consider factors such as student comfort, experience, and confidence — not just swim ability — and adjust programming accordingly.
- In-Water Swim Assessment:
Still required for activities where swimming ability is essential. The assessment criteria have been refined to reflect the specific demands of each activity, supporting safer participation through more targeted skill assessment and maximizing student participation by allowing students who do not successfully complete the In-Water Swim Assessment to wear a PFD while engaging in the activity.
Additionally, safety standards specific to watercraft and water-based activities have been added to the following OPASSE categories:
- Equipment: with updated safety standards focused on PFDs and lifejackets, watercrafts, safety crafts.
- Special Rules/Instructions: with updated safety standards on teacher awareness/preparation and safety/emergency procedures.
These updates are grounded in three goals: reducing the risk of drowning, maintaining high safety standards in all water environments, and ensuring no student is excluded unnecessarily from valuable experiences due to discomfort or limited swim experience.
Intentional Focus on Inclusive Safety: Building on Progress with Purpose
This year’s work continues to deepen the focus on inclusive safety, ensuring that all students regardless of ability can participate safely and confidently in physical activities.
Building on last year’s Disability-Centred Safety work, Ophea has continued to proactively plan and identify potential barriers for students to be included. In preparation for the 2025/26 school year, this work included a collaboration with experts in disability centred physical activity with a focus on the co-creation of criteria to help review safety standards that intentionally focus on students with disabilities.
The intent of the criteria was to establish a process to review safety standards through an intentional, equity-informed lens. The standards selected were those that were used across multiple/all activities. This resulted in targeted updates that reflect a broader range of student needs, including disabilities.
Inclusive safety is an integrated part of how OPASSE approaches risk management. This mindset helps establish and review safety standards where every student feels safe, included, and respected.
Planning Ahead: Supporting Safe, Inclusive Student Participation
School board, school, and classroom leadership plays a vital role in shaping learning environments that inspire lifelong participation in physical activity. The safety updates listed in this blog as well as the others that will be identified in the Summary of the September 2025 Revisions to OPASSE, reflect a vision where every student has the opportunity to participate safely and equitably in physical education, intramurals, and interschool athletics.