The Short Answer
To register a home-based education program in Saskatchewan, you send two things to your school division: the Notification of a Home-based Education Program form and a written education plan. File them at least 30 days before you start, and re-register each year by August 15. The plan sets out your approach, at least three broad annual goals in each of language arts, science, social studies, and mathematics, how you will assess and record progress, and any services you want from the division. It is a plan you write, not the provincial curriculum you must deliver. Plan requirements differ between divisions, so ask yours for its template, and watch for the division's own funding deadline.
A plain-language summary of the rules, not legal advice. We are not lawyers. Requirements change and summaries go out of date. Confirm anything you plan to act on with the department that oversees home education where you live.
Saskatchewan Registration at a Glance
| What you file | The Notification of a Home-based Education Program form plus a written education plan. |
|---|---|
| Where it goes | Your school division, which is your registering authority. |
| When | At least 30 days before you start, and re-register by August 15 each year. |
| The education plan | Your approach, at least three annual goals in each of language arts, science, social studies, and mathematics, how you will assess progress, and any division services you want. Format varies by division. |
| Approval needed? | Yes, in effect. Your division has up to 30 days to review your notification, and the program is registered when the registering official signs and returns a written response. |
| Watch for | Your division's funding deadline, usually a registration or paperwork date of its own. |
Where to Register
Your registering authority is a school division. Most families register with their local division, but the division you choose also decides your funding, since grants vary widely and some divisions accept families from outside their boundaries. It is worth asking a nearby division what it offers before you default to the closest one. Our guide on Saskatchewan homeschool funding covers how to compare divisions on the money.
The Two Documents You File
The Notification Form
The Notification of a Home-based Education Program form is the official notice that you are educating your child at home. It captures your child's details and your intent to run a home-based program. Your division provides the form, and you submit one for each child you are registering.
The Written Education Plan
The education plan is the piece that makes people nervous, and it should not. Saskatchewan's policy manual asks for a few specific things in it: the reason for the program and your philosophical approach, a minimum of three broad annual goals in each of the four areas of study (language arts, science, social studies, and mathematics), the means of assessing and recording progress, and the services you intend to access from the division. The policy asks for a plan, not a day-by-day script, and you are free to change course as the year unfolds. Plan requirements differ between divisions, so ask yours for its template or checklist and write to that.
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What to Put in Your Education Plan
Keep it clear and honest. A plan that a division accepts without back-and-forth usually covers a few things for each child:
- At least three broad annual goals in each of the four areas of study named in the policy: language arts, science, social studies, and mathematics
- The reason for your program and your philosophical approach, in plain language
- The main resources or curriculum you plan to use
- How you will assess and record your child's progress
- Any services you intend to access from the division
A few sentences per subject is plenty. You are describing a direction, not promising a fixed route. If you are still deciding what to teach, our guide on how to choose homeschool curriculum helps you fill the plan with confidence, and the free reading assessment shows you where your child is starting.
The Dates That Matter
Three dates keep your registration clean. First, file your notification and plan at least 30 days before you begin a program. Second, re-register each year by August 15, since registration is annual even when nothing has changed. Third, watch for your division's funding deadline, which is usually a registration or paperwork date of its own and can fall after August 15, as Regina's September 15 cutoff does. Mark all three when you register so none of them sneaks up on you.
What Happens After You File
Your division then has 30 days to review the notification and plan for compliance and to respond in writing. Saskatchewan's policy manual is specific about the moment that matters: the program is registered when the registering official signs and provides a written response, and until the program is registered, a home-based learner is not exempted from compulsory attendance at a public school. There is a protection in the meantime, since a family that has filed is not liable to prosecution for non-attendance while the division is processing the notification. Keep your filing date and the written response together in your records. From there your yearly obligations are light: you keep a portfolio of your child's work and submit one annual progress report, which our main guide on how to homeschool in Saskatchewan walks through.
If Your Notification Is Found Non-Compliant
The review can come back with problems, and Saskatchewan sets out what happens then. Within 30 days the registering authority gives you a written response with details of the non-compliance. You then have 15 days to supply more information in writing, otherwise fix the problem, or arrange a conference. If it is still not resolved, the authority notifies you in writing that it intends not to register the program, gives its reasons, and tells you about the mediation resolution process.
Most plans never go down this road, and the fix is usually a missing piece rather than a disagreement about your program. Filing early leaves room for one round of back-and-forth before your start date.
A Note from Homeschool Teacher Guide: What This Really Means for You
If the education plan is the thing standing between you and starting, let us take the air out of it. We have written these plans, and the honest version is a page that says: here are the subjects, here is roughly how we will do them, here are the books, and here is how we will tell it is working. That is a real plan. It does not need jargon or a teaching degree behind it.
So our advice is to ask your division for its template first, write to that template in plain words, and send it with the notification form well before you start. Do not wait until late August, because the 30-day rule and the August 15 date can collide if you leave it. File early, keep a copy, and get on with the part that matters, which is teaching your kid.
The paperwork is the smallest part of this. Now you build the actual homeschool.
Get the GuideWhat to teach, how to set the day, and what the first month looks like.
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☕ Buy us a coffee ($5)Frequently Asked Questions
How Do I Register to Homeschool in Saskatchewan?
You send the Notification of a Home-based Education Program form and a written education plan to your school division at least 30 days before you start, and re-register each year by August 15.
What Goes in the Education Plan?
Your philosophical approach, at least three broad annual goals in each of language arts, science, social studies, and mathematics, how you will assess and record progress, the resources you plan to use, and any services you want from the division. Format varies by division, so ask yours for its template.
When Is the Deadline?
Register each year by August 15, and file your notification and plan at least 30 days before you begin. Divisions set their own funding deadlines, which are usually registration or paperwork dates of their own.
Do I Need Approval?
Your division reviews your notification and plan and has up to 30 days to respond. The program is registered when the registering official signs and provides a written response. A home-based learner is not exempted from compulsory attendance until that happens, though you are not liable to prosecution for non-attendance while the division processes your notification.
Can I Register Outside My Area?
Sometimes. Policies differ by division, so ask whether a division will register a family from outside its boundaries, which can matter if a nearby division funds families better.
Sources
This guide was verified in June 2026 against the following primary sources. Forms, plan requirements, and deadlines vary by division, so confirm details with your registering authority.