New teachers say financial obstacles a factor in considering careers in northern Ontario
CBC
What a difference a decade has made in the supply of elementary and secondary school teachers in northeastern Ontario and across Canada.
To find work when there was a shortage of jobs, teachers used to leave the province; now, school boards in the northeast say they have plenty of openings and are developing new recruiting strategies.
As they work to hire permanent teachers, boards say, they're resorting to hiring student teachers on transitional certificates or people without teaching certificates to fill the gap.
In some cases, students have more study halls — what administrators call self-directed learning.
Graydon Raymer, dean of the faculty of education and professional studies for Nipissing University in North Bay, said many factors are contributing to the current teacher shortage.
Raymer cites retirements, in part due to changing conditions in the classroom as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that have cut into the workforce. He also said the switch to a two-year Bachelor of Education (BEd) program has stemmed the flow of new teachers.
Raymer said that in 2011, when the BEd was eight months, Nipissing graduated about 700 students from the program.
He said after Ontario extended the program to two years in 2012-2013, about 400 or so teachers were graduating each year.
While Raymer said fewer teachers are graduating, he's concerned about the quality of the training if the BEd reverts to a one-year program
Raymer said some northern school boards have reached out about their struggles in finding qualified teachers and wonder if Nipissing could educate more of them.
He said the university has responded by providing flexible online learning
That doesn't necessarily mean teachers who graduate from Nipissing and are certified will remain in northern Ontario, Raymer said.
He said it's often difficult to get schools in the north to host students, even though that often leads to them making connections in those communities.
"You know, we face challenges finding those placement positions — finding the schools that have the teachers who have the time and capacity to take on a student to come and work with them in the classroom, and there's just so few spots within our region."
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.