N.W.T. school boards report adequate teacher supply, an outlier amid national teacher shortages
CBC
School boards across Canada have been struggling to hire staff amid teacher shortages that have been plaguing the nation since the start of Omicron in January.
In the North, both Yukon and Nunavut have reported large numbers of vacant teaching positions coming into the 2021-2022 school year.
But it doesn't seem to be the case for school boards in the Northwest Territories, which are expecting to be fully staffed by the first day of school at the end of August.
"For teachers, we're actually looking pretty good," said Landon Kowalzik, interim assistant superintendent for Yellowknife Education District No. 1, adding they have about 150 teachers now, with about four positions that are almost filled.
"We are in the process of filling them now through interviews and/ or active recruitment and I do expect that we will have them all filled by the end of this week."
The Dehcho Divisional Education Council also has four or five vacancies that they are confident they will be able to fill, according to superintendent Philippe Brûlot.
March Gacayan, human resources officer Intern for Yellowknife Catholic Schools, says they have three vacancies left to fill.
And superintendent Yvonne Careen says the Commission Scolaire Francophone Territories du Nord-Ouest is fully staffed for the upcoming school year.
These numbers are normal for this time of year, according to school board representatives.
"Just to put things in perspective here, year in and year out we always start the school year being short a couple of teachers, so it's not like there's a drastic increase," said Brûlot.
While school boards have filled most of their teaching positions, hiring staff did not come without its challenges.
School board reps report less qualified applicants for those positions as a result of the national teacher shortage.
"Recruitment has been very challenging this year, although we've been able to hire very qualified teachers for the positions we've filled," stated Renee Closs, superintendent for the Sahtu Divisional Education Council, in an email. "However, the number of applicants has not been the same as in past years."
Careen said Commission Scolaire Francophone had less applications than usual, and that "the quality of the applications can be somewhat of lesser quality. It depends on the position and if specialities are required."
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