Tutoring and Conflict of Interest Guidelines for Members

Members often ask whether they can engage in private tutoring on their own time. ETFO has publicly 

opposed referring students in publicly funded schools to private education providers. ETFO believes that 
all students in the public system should have access to the resources, services, and supports they need 
to succeed.

OTF’s Tutoring Policy

Members should know the Ontario Teachers’ Federation (OTF) policy on tutoring:

O Teachers must not tutor their own students for remuneration.
O The teacher should consult the student’s regular teacher.
O The teacher will be in violation of the Code of Ethics if he or she makes adverse comments about 

the student’s regular teacher, or if the teacher interferes in an unwarranted manner between the 
student and the student’s regular teacher.

Conflict of Interest

Teachers are bound by the Professional Misconduct Regulation 437/97 under the Ontario College of 
Teachers Act.

 Section 26 states that a teacher is guilty of professional misconduct when practising the 

profession while in a conflict of interest.

Public servants, such as teachers, are held to higher standards than other employees in conflict of interest 
situations. Teachers should be guided by the following rules, which apply to public servants:

Guidelines for Members

ETFO has developed specific guidelines for members:

O Find out whether the board has a policy on tutoring and follow it. If a teacher breaches the policy, 

he or she may be disciplined and/or reported to the College of Teachers.

O Private tutoring should not take place on school property or during the instructional day.
O Members should not advertise private tutoring through connections at the school, through 

school or board publications, or through the board’s computer network.

O Regular communication should occur with the student’s own teacher so as not to work at cross 

purposes or outside the regular classroom curriculum.

O Members tutor students at their own risk, and may not be eligible for ETFO support should 

problems arise from the private tutoring situation.

O Members must not advance their own agendas, financial or otherwise, in ways that might 

prejudice their employer’s interests or reputation.

O Members must not use information that is unavailable to the general public, and to which they 

have access because of their official duties, for private gain.

O Members must not place themselves in situations where their judgement could, even 

unconsciously, be affected by their private business.

O Members’ interest in their private financial affairs must not clash, or appear to clash, with the 

employer’s interests.

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