Teaching in Canada

May 29, 2007 3:17 PM

Where in Canada are they hiring teachers? British Columbia? Alberta? Please fill me in. Are there permanent jobs in your province in teaching elementary school and high school? Or where can I find out?
posted by chuma to Education (20 answers total)

Wouldn't the teacher's union have a pretty good idea?
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 3:30 PM on May 29, 2007

Best answer: Anecdotal, but my recently graduated friends are getting jobs in Alberta. Granted, these jobs are often in small towns outside of larger centres but they are indeed jobs.

(I'm sure that someone will chime and say there are no teaching jobs to be had in Alberta. I would imagine that competition for available jobs is fierce but I do know recent graduates that are getting hired and I do know that the job situation has improved.)
posted by lumiere at 3:34 PM on May 29, 2007

Here's a recent article saying substitute teachers are in high demand in Alberta.

You can follow the links provided by the Alberta Teachers' Association to the list of provincial school juristictions. They also suggest the Education Canada Network as another source of job postings from across the country.
posted by hangashore at 3:49 PM on May 29, 2007

It's pretty hard to get a job in an urban centre (from what I'm told by friends) -- you'll have to sub for years. However, if you are willing to move to a remote or rural community, you'll have more luck.
posted by acoutu at 3:55 PM on May 29, 2007

Everything is in very high demand in Alberta. Last year convenience store workers in Calgary were earning more than high school teachers in Newfoundland.

Of course, they had to find a place to live...
posted by watsondog at 5:06 PM on May 29, 2007

BC is the same way. It's fairly straight forward to get a full time jig after a year or two of subbing in towns where there is only one elementary school, not so much where there are dozens.
posted by Mitheral at 5:31 PM on May 29, 2007

Best answer: Elementary schools are getting shut down (at least the school boards are trying) in the greater Vancouver area due to declining enrollment. The last baby boom has ebbed, I guess. Thirding small towns, and in BC the BCTF is the union for teachers. Their website seems to be down.
posted by Salmonberry at 7:56 PM on May 29, 2007

As a male and a compsci teacher (based on your profile) you can find a job in the GTA. Men are needed, as are compsci people. The time is RIGHT NOW. Like today.

Failing landing a job straight up, you need to start volunteering at a highschool. Convince the admin to put you on the supply list. Supply like crazy -- be sure to make nice with the secretaries. Keep your ear to the ground. Its still (mostly) who you know, so you should be networking all through this time.
posted by maxpower at 8:14 PM on May 29, 2007

You could easily find work in Northern Ontario or Manitoba, particularly on remote reserve schools (many of them are fly-in).

Not for everybody though.

Here are the job postings for my (not quite as remote) school board (click on the middle PDF link).
posted by davey_darling at 8:19 PM on May 29, 2007

My aunt and grandmother both taught on the Manitoba prairies their whole lives. I'm not sure how relevant this is to today's labor market, but they both started by accepting positions in small towns. They continued working in similar posts for their entire careers. My aunt edits a newsletter for retired teachers and might have insight in Manitoba, anyway; if you shoot me an email I'll be glad to pass along any specific questions.
posted by Alterscape at 8:26 PM on May 29, 2007

"GTA" == "Greater Toronto Area"? "Gran Turismo Automobile"? "Georgia Technology Authority"? "Greenville Transit Authority"? "Grand Theft Auto"? Umm...
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:55 PM on May 29, 2007

I just heard on the radio that Ontario teachers have an amazing pension plan, fyi.
posted by stray at 11:54 PM on May 29, 2007

I posted a similar question on MeFi in March. You can read the thread here.
posted by HotPatatta at 12:25 AM on May 30, 2007

In the GTA you shoud be looking at towns/cities with new development aimed at young families. There are very few growing Boards as many Boards also have older areas that are closing schools. I believe Halton (Burlington, Oakville, Milton) is one of the few, Peel (esp Brampton and Bolton), and also out Durham way (Brooklin/Whitby). Get on as many sub lists as you can. FWIW, I know a lot of teachers who were hired on Labour Day as the final numbers come in (ah, much fun is had creating class lists when thirty parents show up on the first day of school to register their multiple chidren). Right now in Ontario all the teachers are submitting their report cards to the principals and reviewing what students will need next year. Teachers already in the union are still switching classes schools for September. Hiring new teachers is simply not on the radar right now for the principals and Boards; I believe Peel states somewhere on their website that they won't even look at applicants until the end of June. Everyone I know hoping for their first job is freaking out - even those with FSL, special Ed and other AC's. I know it is hard to do, but relax, give it some time. Are you Catholic or French? That gives you even more Boards to apply to. This all assumes you are in the College of Teachers, if you aren't certified then there probably aren't any jobs right now, sorry.
posted by saucysault at 4:03 AM on May 30, 2007

Two sites a lot of teachers use: Jobs in Education and Education Canada. I do know first year graduates that have gotten permanent positions in Metro Toronto so don't feel hopeless. Good luck!
posted by saucysault at 4:42 AM on May 30, 2007

"Greenville Transit Authority"? "Grand Theft Auto"? Umm...

Don't be silly. In the context of Canada, the acronym "GTA" means one thing and one thing only.
posted by GuyZero at 7:26 AM on May 30, 2007

My girlfriend is just finishing her second year teaching grade 7 and 8. She got hired right out of teacher's college and we're living in Toronto. This year, the Toronto District School Board is unlikely to have many openings. My girlfriend has been looking into openings and is pretty pessimistic about being able to transfer to another school within the city.

Normally the TDSB isn't too difficult to get into. The boards serving Ottawa and Kingston are notoriously difficult.

It seems like the initial difficulty of getting hired in a board deters a lot of people from trying the slower, but more certain route. I'm not sure what your plans and financial situation are, but if I were you, I'd think more about where I want to live and teach as opposed to just going where the openings are right now. Your first few years of teaching are likely to be emotionally draining and frustrating. Having friends or family close by will make a big difference.

You can get hired anywhere you want if you're willing to make a 2-3 year project out of it. Volunteer at a school you want to work at. Supply teach. Get additional qualifications that are in need in that board. You can do other work on the side to make ends meet. Heaps of people do this and enjoy it. It can be good not to be in the classroom every day.

Here's a headline from the Toronto Star from a little while back. Don't let it make you too negative about teaching in Ontario, but the headline is, 'teacher shortage turns to glut'

My email is in my profile. Drop me a line and I can put you in touch with my girlfriend who can give you advice.
posted by thenormshow at 8:17 AM on May 30, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks for all the comments. This was actually posted for my wife... she's currently working in (and we live in) Durham Region (that's roughly Pickering/Ajax/Whitby/Oshawa, Ontario) on a long-term occasional (LTO - regular work filling in for maternity contract which finishes at the end of June. She spent a year doing just supply teaching before getting lucky and landing an LTO in the fall, and then this one, both teaching music.

I've gotta stop before I turn this comment into a total bitch-fest on the state of teaching in Southern Ontario, but long story short: everyone told us it would be easy, and then we got a sharp reality check. But thanks for the comments and the pointers.

Yes stray, the pension plan is awesome. Ferchrissakes, they were rumoured to be part of a bid to purchase Chrysler a few months back.

And the BC Teachers' Federation site has been down the last few days.
posted by chuma at 9:01 AM on May 30, 2007

Response by poster: saucysault, yes, she's fully certified and in category A4 according to QECO. Doesn't have French and we're not Catholic either.

Durham School Board has screwed over the supply list by putting way more teachers on it than necessary as well as no longer honouring requests by principals for specific teachers. The bottom line is that the work gets spread very thinly now and it's hard to make any kind of decent money - and you have to make yourself free as much as possible since you never know when you'll get "the call"...

Dammit, I said I was going to stop bitching....
posted by chuma at 9:11 AM on May 30, 2007

Can she convert? Them Catholics have big families. /joke

You were told it would be easy because about eight years ago it was incredibly easy; I saw many people without certification in the system due to Harris driving out older teachers with his false crisis and a sweet pension deal. Fortunately, now a lot of those teachers are having babies, so LTO's are pretty plentiful.

I see all my teacher friends without permanent positions feeling very panicky right now, it is completely normal. She WILL get a permanent position, just wait. The only thing worse than not getting a permanent position would be to get a position and then be told, "sorry, we DON'T have a job for you". So the Board conservativeness is ultimately good for you. If money is a concern, and she is doing occasional subbing next year, she can look ino either joining an existing tutoring service or making her own in the evenings and weekends. Durham is booming with new families; those kids need to be taught. But ultimately, she WILL get a permanent position in Durham. I guaran-tee it!
posted by saucysault at 10:27 AM on May 30, 2007