Case Study: Ottawa-Carleton District School Board achieves record-breaking community engagement with ThoughtExchange

Canada’s Capital City Takes On Strategic Plan With Input From 13,500 Community Members

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, the largest school board in Eastern Ontario, needed a more inclusive way to gather input for its strategic plan without relying on in-person meetings. The board partnered with ThoughtExchange to engage a wider range of stakeholders, including parents, staff, students, and community members, and to capture feedback at much higher volume than previous consultations.

ThoughtExchange helped OCDSB run “Every School Every Voice,” moderating and organizing thousands of comments into a clear, usable summary for leadership. The process drew 13,494 participants, 42,026 thoughts, and 649,026 stars, giving the board a prioritized list of issues and helping it move quickly from feedback to a new four-year strategic plan approved in 2015.

Ottawa Carleton District School Board

Michèle Giroux

Executive Officer, Corporate Services