The fate of closed schools: Documenting the relationships between school property reuses and their beneficiaries in Ontario, Canada

Abstract

ABSTRACT Public schools play a pivotal role in successful community development. Yet, with school closures on the rise across North America, there is limited knowledge on the outcomes of closed school properties. This study documents the afterlife of closed school properties in Ontario, Canada, identifying their potential beneficiaries, and assessing the prevalence of property vacancies. Using a dataset of over 400 schools closed between 2011 and 2021, we determined that the prevalence of certain school property reuses varied by degree of urbanicity. Fewer than one-fifth of reused properties were designed to benefit highly deprived populations, despite over half of the school closures occurring in neighborhoods with higher levels of deprivation. Furthermore, one-third of school properties remained vacant at the time of study, 36% of which closed over a decade ago. The findings reflect the need for additional consideration of the future uses of school properties prior to their closures.