Quebec to impose full ban on cellphones in schools

Benjamin Shingler · CBC News

· Posted: May 01, 2025 9:12 AM EDT | Last Updated: 14 minutes ago

Quebec is expected to move ahead with a full ban on cellphones and other electronic devices in schools.

The regulation will apply from the beginning to the end of the school day, including breaks, according to Radio-Canada.

The province has already banned cellphones in classrooms, joining a growing list of provinces with similar policies. That measure took effect on Jan. 1, 2024.

The ban will apply to both public and private schools at the elementary school and high school level.

It will come into effect as of the next school year, and it will be up to each school to decide how to implement the change, Radio-Canada reported.

Education Minister Bernard Drainville will provide more details at a news conference later today.

The ban on cellphones in school was recommended by a special committee that studied the impact of screens on young people. 

The committee is due to submit a full report by the end of May, but its members decided last week to issue this first recommendation to give the government and the school network some leeway to implement it quickly.

The committee's final report, which will include all of its recommendations, is expected by May 30.

WATCH | Are cellphones in the classroom hijacking kids' brains?

David Bowles, the director general of Collège Charles-Lemoyne on Montreal's South Shore, said his school has had a ban on cellphones in the classroom since 2006. The school implemented a full ban on cellphones during the school day a few years ago.

"At the beginning, there was a reaction from students —- they liked to have that time with their cell phones to chat and play games or whatnot," Bowles told CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

"We explained to them that our goal is for them to socialize among each other, to go play outside."

Bowles said students are supposed to keep their cellphone in their locker and if they are caught using it during the day, it is confiscated. 

In implementing the ban, Bowles said it will be important to explain the reasoning behind the change and to have parents and teachers on board. 

"We do see some students that become almost addicted to screen time and scrolling through different applications and YouTube and whatnot," said Bowles, who is also head of a federation representing Quebec private schools.

"For a lot of parents, it's difficult. It's very difficult to control screen time for their kids."