The Provincial Government is providing an update today in response to a report by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner related to a privacy breach of the PowerSchool platform in December 2024.

PowerSchool is a third-party application that provides parents, guardians, and students with quick and easy access to student marks, assessment information, attendance records, assignment due dates, and school announcements.

In January 2025, the Provincial Government received notice that PowerSchool had experienced a cybersecurity incident. The incident was not specific to Newfoundland and Labrador and customers were notified in multiple jurisdictions in North America.

The Provincial Government has been proactive in taking steps to safeguard against future privacy breaches and ensure stronger cyber protection moving forward for users of PowerSchool, such as:

• Enhancing cybersecurity training for all departmental staff.
• Reviewing all data held within PowerSchool.
• Updating a retention and deletion schedule for personal information stored in PowerSchool.
• Reviewing and implementing additional security controls.

The Provincial Government has been actively working on many of the matters outlined in the report and will now review the report in detail to ensure all possible measures are in place to protect the data held within PowerSchool.

More information on and resources related to the cybersecurity incident are available on the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s website. Residents requiring additional information are encouraged to contact the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development at PowerSchoolinfo@gov.nl.ca.

Quotes
“Protecting the personal information of students and teachers in the K-12 system is important to our government and this report provides valuable information on how we can all take steps to secure our online information. This was one of the first matters I inquired about when I became Minister of Education and Eary Childhood Development. I’m confident that the work completed and being completed by officials in the Office of the Chief Information Officer is further enhancing cybersecurity protection.”
Honourable Paul Dinn
Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development

“Since coming into government, I have met with the head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security and worked to strengthen protections and training to better safeguard sensitive information. We will continue to build on this work and the results of this report to ensure the highest standards of security and protect the personal information of students, teachers, and families throughout the province.”
Honourable Mike Goosney
Minister of Government Services and Minister Responsible for the Office of the Chief Information Officer

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