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Alberta's School Cellphone Ban: What Schools Need to Know in 2026
Yes, during class. Since 1 September 2024, Alberta's Ministerial Order 14/2024 bars K-12 students from using personal mobile devices during instructional time and blocks social media on school networks. Breaks and lunch are left to each school board.
Ministerial Order 14/2024, the Standards for the Use of Personal Mobile Devices and Social Media in Schools, took effect on 1 September 2024 for all K-12 schools. Phones and similar devices must be silenced and stored out of sight during instructional time. Social media must be blocked on school networks. Exemptions cover health needs such as blood sugar monitoring, learning supports, and teacher-approved learning.
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced the rule on 17 June 2024 after a survey of more than 68,000 parents, students and staff, about 90% of whom backed limits. The order applied from 1 September 2024, and boards had until 1 January 2025 to finalise policies on storage, roles, consequences and informing parents. No change to the order was found for 2025-26 or 2026-27.
Boards set the details. Calgary's public board applied the rules from the first day of classes in August 2024, and several divisions, such as Black Gold, ran interim plans before final procedures. Many divisions extend the rule to smartwatches and headphones. The Alberta Teachers' Association questioned the gap between the September start and January policy deadline, and teachers' liability for confiscated phones.
Whatever Alberta's ministerial order requires, lockable pouches let students keep their own phone, locked, from the first bell to the last, so the school does not collect, store or answer for devices. Before The Internet ships lockable pouches and unlocking bases from Toronto to schools across Canada, including in Alberta, and can print the school's crest on them. Schools buy them outright: one price, no subscription, lease or per-student annual licence. Send us your student numbers and any written quote you have, and we will beat it.
Frequently asked questions
Does Alberta's rule cover lunch and breaks?
The provincial order applies to instructional time. Each school board decides whether phones can be used at breaks and lunch, and some go further.
Are there exemptions?
Yes. Students can use devices for health or medical needs, documented learning supports, or when a teacher or principal approves use for learning.
Can Alberta schools use lockable phone pouches?
Yes. The order requires devices to be silenced and out of sight during instruction, and boards choose the storage method in their own policies.
Related reading
School cellphone bans in Canada · Phone-free schools toolkit · Bell-to-bell school phone policy template
Written by the team at Before The Internet, a Toronto-based phone-free company that rents lockable phone pouches for events across North America and sells them to schools and venues worldwide, shipping purchases to any country.
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