Class Size Isn’t the Whole Story: Classroom Complexity Is Driving Teachers to the Breaking Point
Third edition of the Parachute Educator Survey Series reveals why educator overwhelm is the norm and not the exception.
Ottawa, February 5, 2026 – The Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE) has released the first findings of the Fall 2025 edition of Parachute, its pan-Canadian educator survey series, examining the realities driving Canada’s teacher retention and recruitment crisis. With almost 7,000 completed responses from teachers, principals, vice-principals, and education workers across the country, this edition turns its focus to the dual forces now defining public education: class size and classroom complexity.
What the data shows is stark: Class sizes are rising; complexity is escalating; and the time teachers have to teach is shrinking. Together, these conditions are reshaping the learning environment for millions of students—and pushing educators to the brink.
Class Size Isn’t the Whole Story
Average class sizes in Canada already sit high at 22–26 students, with some K–6 teachers reporting classes that exceed 40, 50, and even 60 students. Teachers in classes of 26 or more students are less likely to report having access to adequate education assistants or specialized support personnel. In other words, 26+ often marks the moment where the classroom stops behaving like a “teaching unit” and starts behaving like a triage unit. But educators are clear: the issue is not size alone. Even small classes are becoming unmanageable as complexity intensifies.
Complexity Is the True Breaking Point
Inside a typical K–6 classroom of 22 students, teachers now navigate a multi-layered mix of behavioural, learning, emotional, linguistic, and socioeconomic needs—often without the supports designed to meet them. 80% of educators say they lack adequate access to specialized supports like educational assistants, resource teachers, psychologists, and behaviour interventionists. And 25%–30% educators report that they are rarely or never able to provide the supports outlined in their students’ Individualized Education Plans.
The result is predictable: teachers are spending less time teaching, more time trying to plug widening gaps, and students’ learning potential suffers. Across all grades, direct instruction accounts for just 34% of classroom time. In K–6, one in four minutes is lost to behaviour management.
“ If you look across at any jurisdiction, province or territory, you’re going to see similar issues…troubles with retention and recruitment fueled by class sizes, class complexity, class composition, increasing violence in schools…” said Clint Johnston, President of the CTF/FCE in a recent SOURCE podcast conversation with ATA President Jason Schilling. “But I often think that there’s a root cause that’s not being talked about and that is the funding piece: it just seems like provincial and territorial governments aren’t willing to take the steps that they know are needed.”
What Educators Say Must Change
Educators across the country identified three urgent priorities:
- Enforceable class composition provisions;
- Legal standards for student–teacher ratios;
- Increased funding for specialized supports.
The findings from the Fall 2025 Parachute survey reinforce a growing national reality: students who need help aren’t getting it, and teachers cannot continue filling every gap alone. Class size and complexity are inextricable realities. Addressing them requires long-term, incremental systemic shifts to safeguard a profession on the edge of collapse—and essential to ensuring Canadian public schools remain a sustainable and equitable learning environment for all.
About the Parachute Educator Survey Series
The Parachute survey series is open to education professionals, including teachers, principals, education assistants, and support workers. It is an initiative of the CTF/FCE, in partnership with its 18 provincial and territorial Member and Associate Organizations. The series informs the CTF/FCE’s pan-Canadian Retention & Recruitment Strategy: a 3-year initiative aimed at addressing the systemic issues fueling the attrition crisis.
-30-
About the CTF/FCE
Founded in 1920, the CTF/FCE is a national alliance of provincial and territorial teachers’ organizations that represent over 370,000 teachers and education workers across Canada. The CTF/FCE is also an affiliate of Education International, which represents more than 33-million educators.
Media Contact
Nika Quintao, Director of Public Affairs
Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE)
[email protected]
Mobile: 613-688-4319
