Miguel Tremblay, a father living in the Villeray neighbourhood of Montreal, determined that the electronic messages sent by his children's elementary school during 2025 would require roughly 14 hours of reading time. His tally showed 456 individual emails containing an estimated total of 166,000 words, a volume he likened to the length of a Harry Potter novel.
Tremblay arrived at the figure by adding each email received from the school over the course of the year and compiling the overall word count. Using that total, he calculated the time a typical reader would need to process the material, arriving at the 14‑hour estimate.
The data points illustrate the scale of routine communication that schools distribute to families. Parents in the area receive notices about assignments, events, policy updates and other school‑related matters, all of which accumulate in inboxes throughout the academic year. While the exact content of the messages was not disclosed, the sheer number of emails and words underscores the intensity of information flow between educators and households.
Tremblay's findings add to ongoing discussions about how schools manage outreach and the potential burden on families tasked with staying informed. The 456 emails represent an average of more than one message per day, and the 166,000-word total exceeds the length of many popular novels, providing a concrete illustration of the communication demands placed on parents.
The calculation serves as a quantitative snapshot of parental exposure to school correspondence in Montreal's public education system. It highlights the need for efficient channels that convey essential information without overwhelming recipients, a consideration for school administrators as they plan future outreach strategies.