Egerton Ryerson (1803-1882) was the son of a prominent loyalist farmer from the Norfolk area of south-western Ontario. Like a number of his brothers before him Ryerson became a Methodist Minister. He served the ministry for nearly 20 years before being appointed Chief Superintendent of Education. For the next 30 years he would have a dramatic impact on the development of education in Ontario.

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Statue of Egerton Ryerson in front of
the Education Department Building
in Toronto, [ca. 1890]
Andrew Merrilees collection
Black and white print
Reference Code: F 1125-1-0-0-182
Archives of Ontario, I0001935

Ryerson’s first two years in office were spent researching educational systems across the British Empire and Europe, and drafting legislation appropriate for Upper Canada. One of the underlying principles of this legislation was to ensure that a universally accessible elementary education would be provided to all children.

The passage of An Act for the Better Establishment and Maintenance of Common Schools in Upper Canada in 1846 created the basis for a universal education system. This legislation created a seven member administrative body called the General Board of Education for Canada West.

The board was empowered to regulate the governance of public school boards across the province, grant funding, approve textbooks and curriculum materials, establish a Provincial Normal School which was to include a Model School for the training of teachers, and oversee their certification.

In 1850 the board was renamed the Department of Public Instruction, and in 1876 its name again changed, to the Department of Education.

In 1972 all government departments were renamed ministries, and the name was changed to Ministry of Education.

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An Act for the Better Establishment and Maintenance of Common Schools in Upper Canada, 1846
William Kirby fonds
Reference Code: F 1076-13,
box MU 1682, file M-23
Archives of Ontario
[Click here to read a transcript of the act]

By the time Ryerson retired in 1876, he had engineered two other equally significant pieces of legislation (the School Acts of 1850 and 1871), authored numerous textbooks approved for the school curriculum, founded the Educational Museum, and established the public school library system. His accomplishments had not gone unnoticed. In the letter excerpt below, a teacher praises Ryerson for bringing Ontario's education system out of chaos and rooting it firmly in God and the British Empire.

By the late 19th century, Ontario was receiving high praise and many awards for its public education system at international exhibitions such as the Philadelphia Centennial International Exhibition (1876) in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, and the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois (1893), largely as a result of Ryerson's accomplishments.