Provinces across Canada have been hit with a massive teacher shortage, prompting school boards to usher back in pandemic-era stopgap measures such as hiring unqualified teachers. Teachers have fled the field en masse since COVID-19 hit in March 2020 — many due to restrictions, lockdowns and vaccine and mask mandates. The marked lack of teachers has led to learning and behaviour issues Canada-wide, according to the Ontario Principals’ Council (OPC). Some parents of special needs children have been asked to keep their kids home due to lack of support staff, per CTV News.While schools’ coping strategies have included cancelling elective classes such as music or physical education, combining classes to include two different grade levels and truncating teachers’ allotted prep time, these patchwork solutions only go so far, says head of the OPC Toronto principal Ralph Nigro, according to the CBC. "None of these are good options, but they're all options that have to be considered on a daily basis," said Nigro. School boards will have to start looking at measures implemented during COVID-19, such as removing the teachers’ degree requirement and hauling past teachers out of retirement — but educators worry it still won’t cover all the gaps. Education researcher at the University of Regina Nathalie Reid noted one significant contributing factor is the fact that more than 30% of newly graduated teachers change jobs within five years of working in the profession. Usually newer teachers only hold down the same job for a short period of time and are likely to hop from one short-term contract to another. .In BC, the number of unqualified teachers increased threefold this year; under the province’s School Act, school boards can hire teachers who have not obtained a teacher's certificate but are considered qualified in other areas to fill immediate needs for staff. One school board said unqualified teachers fill dozens of vacancies. President of the Prince George District Teachers' Association Daryl Beauregard cited a staggering 45 uncertified teachers on call in School District 57 so far in 2024 and ore than 60 were on call in 2023.According to the school board’s website, there are 96 vacancies for the current school year. Prior to the 2023/24 school year, Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville said the province was lacking 1,859 full-time teachers and 6,699 part-time — coming to a total of 8,558 vacancies, per Global News. As for staffing shortages in Ontario school boards, a 2023/24 annual survey shows 24% of elementary and 35% of high schools are significantly missing teachers. In terms of support staff, 42% of elementary and a whopping 46% of high schools are sorely lacking. This includes educational assistants (EA), who help students with special needs.
Provinces across Canada have been hit with a massive teacher shortage, prompting school boards to usher back in pandemic-era stopgap measures such as hiring unqualified teachers. Teachers have fled the field en masse since COVID-19 hit in March 2020 — many due to restrictions, lockdowns and vaccine and mask mandates. The marked lack of teachers has led to learning and behaviour issues Canada-wide, according to the Ontario Principals’ Council (OPC). Some parents of special needs children have been asked to keep their kids home due to lack of support staff, per CTV News.While schools’ coping strategies have included cancelling elective classes such as music or physical education, combining classes to include two different grade levels and truncating teachers’ allotted prep time, these patchwork solutions only go so far, says head of the OPC Toronto principal Ralph Nigro, according to the CBC. "None of these are good options, but they're all options that have to be considered on a daily basis," said Nigro. School boards will have to start looking at measures implemented during COVID-19, such as removing the teachers’ degree requirement and hauling past teachers out of retirement — but educators worry it still won’t cover all the gaps. Education researcher at the University of Regina Nathalie Reid noted one significant contributing factor is the fact that more than 30% of newly graduated teachers change jobs within five years of working in the profession. Usually newer teachers only hold down the same job for a short period of time and are likely to hop from one short-term contract to another. .In BC, the number of unqualified teachers increased threefold this year; under the province’s School Act, school boards can hire teachers who have not obtained a teacher's certificate but are considered qualified in other areas to fill immediate needs for staff. One school board said unqualified teachers fill dozens of vacancies. President of the Prince George District Teachers' Association Daryl Beauregard cited a staggering 45 uncertified teachers on call in School District 57 so far in 2024 and ore than 60 were on call in 2023.According to the school board’s website, there are 96 vacancies for the current school year. Prior to the 2023/24 school year, Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville said the province was lacking 1,859 full-time teachers and 6,699 part-time — coming to a total of 8,558 vacancies, per Global News. As for staffing shortages in Ontario school boards, a 2023/24 annual survey shows 24% of elementary and 35% of high schools are significantly missing teachers. In terms of support staff, 42% of elementary and a whopping 46% of high schools are sorely lacking. This includes educational assistants (EA), who help students with special needs.
