In North America, as well as in Europe, most countries have included in their educational policies the possibility of an individualized educational project for students with special needs during their compulsory schooling. The tool used for this is mainly an individualized education plan (IEP) set up for students experiencing academic or behavioural difficulties at school. The purpose of this article is to take a comparative look at individualized education plans from five school systems: Quebec, Ontario, France, Belgium (Wallonia), and Switzerland (Ticino canton). A comparative analysis was conducted on the IEP frameworks from these school systems. This comparative analysis sheds light on the terminology, definitions, characteristics, and components of IEPs used in five European and Canadian school systems for students with difficulties. The results show that the terminology used is specific to each school system, but the importance of planning, integration, collaboration, coordination, teaching interventions/arrangements is highlighted in all these definitions. The analysis reveals differences in the components of the IEPs among the five school systems studied. However, IEP patterns revolve around a common core of 11 components.