September 29th, 2022

The Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) confirms that some information in the student grade database was impacted by the July 10 cyber incident. The data involved included information for some students enrolled in the 2006-07 through 2012-13 academic years. Given the years involved, the vast majority of individuals are former students. Social insurance numbers, addresses, and financial information were not accessible in this database.

“We understand that students, former students, parents and caregivers are concerned about their personal information and that of their loved ones. We also know the time this process has taken has added to the stress,” said Eusis Dougan-McKenzie, Interim Chief Communications Officer. “In August, when we learned that student information was involved, we shared that fact publicly. Unfortunately, at that time we did not know precisely which students or what information was involved. We requested your patience and trust as we undertook the complex and time-consuming analysis of this data. We have now completed a significant portion of that work, and can now share the results.”

The cyber security experts working with our IT team were able to determine that the intrusion did not include our main student information system. They confirmed that the data was from the 2006-07 through 2012-13 academic years, and the type of information that was impacted. It was also determined that not all students registered in that period of time were impacted. The data of approximately 70,000 individuals was taken. That data may have included:

  • Student name;
  • Date of birth;
  • Gender;
  • Ontario Education Number (OEN);
  • Whether the student had an individualized education plan (IEP); and
  • Historical educational information such as the student’s former school, classroom or teachers.

While cyber experts have advised that the risk of identity theft for those involved is very low, the WRDSB is committed to protecting the individuals involved from even the most remote harm, so we are offering one year of complimentary credit monitoring to anyone in the data set.

To determine if your information was involved in this incident, please do the following:

  • Call TransUnion at 1-833-806-1882,
  • State that you are calling in relation to the Waterloo Regional District School Board credit monitoring program, and
  • Provide your name.

If you were in the data set, TransUnion will provide you with a credit monitoring code and more information on how to register for one year of complimentary credit monitoring.

The WRDSB deeply regrets this incident and any concern or inconvenience it may have caused you. The WRDSB is committed to safeguarding your information, and we have recovered this data and received assurances that any copies were deleted. We are committed to transparency regarding the impact of this incident on your data, and we will continue to share the results of our analysis as they become available.