As staffing shortages persist in Canadian schools, students might find more classes supplemented with rolling TVs (if substitute teachers still do that).
Driving the news: With just a few days to go before the start of the new school year, school boards from the Maritimes to Nunavut are scrambling to fill vacancies that, if left open, could impact the quality of education across the country. There are several factors driving it.
- Low pay: A wage comparison across 18 sectors by the Toronto Star found that education workers have had a 5% drop in real wages in the last 10 years.
- Slow certification: Lengthy and rigorous certification processes, especially in Québec and Ontario, that make it hard for new teachers to enter the workforce.
- Recruitment challenges: Vacancy rates in remote places, like Nunavut, are among the highest, hitting 10%. Out east, New Brunswick is short 174 teachers this year.
Big picture: The situation is improving in provinces like Québec, which has 5,700 vacant positions this year, down from about 8,500 last year. The province has boosted salaries but also hires people without formal education training to fill the gaps (as does Ontario).
Why it matters: Students are still trying to catch up after the impacts of pandemic-era lockdowns, but persistently understaffed classrooms could set them back even further.—SB