Ontario’s Ministry of Education has confirmed it is investigating after thousands of emails were taken via “unauthorized access” to its website and then published online.

The government learned about the 5,000 leaked email addresses — which belong to members of the public who tried to contact the Ministry of Education through its workshop opportunities online — on March 5, according to a statement emailed to the Star.

The ministry said a list of the email addresses was posted to a text-storing and sharing website, but has since been taken down.

The government confirmed no other information, such as names or passwords, was improperly accessed.

“The Ministry immediately took down its website and launched an investigation into this matter and is working to ensure this situation does not happen again,” read the statement, which was also sent to those whose email addresses were leaked.

Although a government spokesperson confirmed there was no indication other Ontario government networks were affected, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities website was also taken down “as a precautionary measure.”

Both websites were still offline more than a week after the government learned of the leak.

The government expects to have both websites back up and running early next week.

According to the government’s statement, both the Ontario Provincial Police and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario have been notified of the incident.