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A school bag and a lunch bag are seen in the school yard at the Bancroft Elementary School as students go back to school in Montreal, on Monday, Aug. 31, 2020.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Fact File: No evidence Canadian schools banning pork from lunches

By The Canadian Press

Published 10:15 PDT, Wed October 15, 2025

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A TikTok video from October asked viewers to "imagine" receiving an email from a teacher asking parents' not to pack pork in their children's school lunches lest it offend religious students.

Some who shared the video claimed Ontario and other Canadian school boards banned pork products in deference to Muslim students.

However, there is no evidence confirming the existence of such an email or school pork bans.

THE CLAIM

"Imagine receiving an email from your kids' school teacher asking you not to pack pork in their lunches anymore because it has become offensive to some of the children who are in the class," says the creator of a TikTok video posted in early October that has since received more than 600,000 plays.

"Some parents are writing emails to the teachers saying that there are Canadian kids showing up with bacon and ham in their sandwiches, and that's offensive to their religion. Just imagine that for a second," he says.

In a Facebook post, one user claimed it was schools in Ontario that told parents they couldn't pack pork in their children's lunches "because it offends Muslims."

Muslims cannot consume pork products under Islamic dietary rules.

Similar posts appeared multiple times on the X platform, formerly Twitter.

On YouTube, a creator whose content previously appeared in a Canadian Press fact check for sharing an altered video of a Welsh Muslim woman posted a video titled "WTF: Pork BANNED in Canada?!"

The video (archived here) claimed Ontario schools are "banning" pork products, citing the original TikTok video as evidence.

THE FACTS

The original TikTok video included hashtags for Alberta, Calgary and "cbe", which stands for the Calgary Board of Education.

The Canadian Press reached out to the Calgary Board of Education and the Toronto District School Board, which represent the largest primary and secondary student populations in Alberta and Ontario.

"We are not aware of this rumour. Our schools have been closed since Oct. 6 due to the province-wide labour action by the Alberta Teachers’ Association. The Calgary Board of Education does not restrict lunch or snacks provided by a parent for their child," a spokesperson told The Canadian Press in an email.

A TDSB spokesperson said the board was unaware of the rumour.

The Canadian Press reached out to the video creator and will update this check if we receive a response.

There is no evidence that supports the supposed banning of pork in Ontario schools; a keyword search turned up no results and the only media reports are about the TikTok video.

Ontario has a food and beverage policy that applies to the province's schools. However, the only foods that are not allowed are products sold in schools "that generally contain few or no essential nutrients and/or contain high amounts of fat, sugar and/or sodium." The standards do not apply to food brought from home or purchased off school premises.

The Calgary board has a similar policy that food sold to students meet nutrition requirements, but there is no blanket ban of pork products.

Fact-checkers have previously debunked similar rumours about pork bans in schools. An old hoax from around 2014, and which resurfaced in 2021, claimed the Dorval, Que. mayor insulted Muslims after a request that pork be removed from school canteens.

– Marissa Birnie, The Canadian Press