Tag: Canada
Ottawa, November 21, 2023 – The Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE) Board of Directors is set to convene in Ottawa on November 21 and 22, urgently tackling the nationwide challenge looming over public education: the teacher retention and recruitment crisis. This critical meeting is poised to address the need for immediate, collective actions to combat the challenges faced by education personnel across the nation.
Poor working conditions lie at the heart of the crisis. Untenable classroom sizes and complexity have only increased. Students with special needs lack adequate support and resources. Psychological and physical violence is statistically on the rise. Other complex factors have contributed to this crisis, including fluctuations in student populations, and declining enrollment in education faculties. Regrettably, 100% of the CTF/FCE’s Member and Associate Organizations have indicated that unqualified teachers are holding positions in schools from coast to coast to coast.
Heidi Yetman, President of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, underscores the gravity of the situation: “There is no shortage of teachers, but rather a shortage of decent working conditions. Canada has reached a critical juncture, and it is imperative that provincial and territorial governments invest in public education. Collaboration with union counterparts is crucial in finding solutions. Only through working together can we ensure that every child has a qualified teacher in their classroom. Quality publicly funded education is indispensable for a healthy and prosperous society.”
About the CTF/FCE
Founded in 1920, the CTF/FCE is a national alliance of provincial and territorial teachers’ organizations that represent over 365,000 teachers and education workers across Canada. The CTF/FCE is also an affiliate of Education International, which represents more than 32-million educators.
Media contact
Nika Quintao, Director of Public Affairs
Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE)
Contact
Mobile: 613-606-7809
MEDIA ALERT: Elected Leaders to Talk Teacher Recruitment and Retention Crisis on World Teachers’ Day
OTTAWA, October 3, 2023 – The Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE) welcomes Members of Parliament (MPs) and education stakeholders to its World Teachers’ Day town hall event in Ottawa, “The Empty Classroom: Challenges and Solutions to the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Crisis.”
This celebration of the teaching profession will include a panel discussion, moderated by CTF/FCE President Heidi Yetman. The panel will be a unique opportunity for MPs and education stakeholders to listen to teachers’ voices, address their questions, and share possible approaches and strategies to improve working conditions and thereby address recruitment and retention challenges facing Canada’s entire education community.
Q & A will follow the panel discussion.
Speakers include:
- Martin Shields, MP for Bow River
- Jenica Atwin, MP for Fredericton
- Niki Ashton, MP for Churchill–Keewatinook Aski
- Carol Sarich, President of the Canadian Association of Principals
- Kristina Salciccioli, Department Head, Cathedral High School, Hamilton, Ontario, and Instructor and Ph. D Candidate, Faculty of Education, Brock University.
Date
October 5, 2023
Time
5:30 p.m. ET
Location
The event will be held in person at La Nouvelle Scène Gilles Desjardins, 333 King Edward Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The town hall will also be livestreamed via Zoom (The Zoom link will be shared with registered participants two days prior to the event). A recording of the event will be available after.
Bilingual Event: This event will be conducted in both English and French with simultaneous interpretation.
Registration: Media must register for the event in advance through the event webpage.
About the CTF/FCE
Founded in 1920, the CTF/FCE is a national alliance of provincial and territorial teachers’ organizations that represent over 365,000 teachers and education workers across Canada. The CTF/FCE is also an affiliate of Education International, which represents more than 32-million educators.
Media contact
Nika Quintao, Director of Public Affairs
Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE)
Contact
Mobile: 613-606-7809
The Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE) is alarmed by the rise of organized hate across the country. Along with the teachers’ organizations we represent in every province and territory, the CTF/FCE opposes any agendas that aim to intimidate vulnerable people, spread misinformation, and propagate hate. We stand in solidarity with students, families, educators, and the vast majority of Canadians in the protection of 2SLGBTQQIA+ rights.
Over one million Canadians identify as members of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community. Attacks on them are an attack on our collective freedom and peace. We urge all Canadians, regardless of your political or religious affiliation to reflect on how intimidation poisons the wellsprings of our national identity. We thrive as a nation due to our inclusivity and ability to embrace change. Canadian farmers understand this logic better than anyone: a field with diverse crops yields the richest soil. A country is no different.
The CTF/FCE is disturbed by various provincial governments across this country changing policies in education that cause harm to already vulnerable populations, particularly sexual and gender diverse students and school staff. We are equally troubled by maligned and misinformed groups organizing aggressive hate-filled events.
The CTF/FCE represents over 365,000 teachers from coast to coast to coast, and our policy is clear. The CTF/FCE advocates for educational systems that are safe, welcoming, inclusive, and affirming for people of all gender identities.
We are seeing a disturbing trend emerging that defies common sense:
On June 8, the New Brunswick government revised an education policy which would forbid New Brunswick teachers from using students’ preferred pronouns if they are under 16 years of age, without parental consent.
This summer, during their Manitoba election campaign, Conservatives promised to expand parental rights by changing the Manitoba Public Schools Act.
On August 22, 2023, the Saskatchewan Minister of Education announced a near identical policy to New Brunswick’s.
On August 28, 2023, the Ontario Minister of Education told reporters he believes parents should be told if their child chooses to use a different pronoun at school.
Now, in Alberta, a hate group is organizing an anti “sex-education” convoy targeting teachers and their association in that province.
These actions are not coincidences, and their perpetrators seem to ignore the fact that many teachers are in fact parents.
The CTF/FCE recognizes the immeasurable role most parents play in their children’s upbringing and safety, and safe schools are at the foundation of a peaceful country. To ensure this, teachers need to be trusted as the professionals they are to do what is best for students while in their care.
On October 5, we celebrate World Teachers’ Day and recognize the monumental and noble work of educators everywhere.
Join the celebration HERE.
About the CTF/FCE
Founded in 1920, the CTF/FCE is a national alliance of provincial and territorial teachers’ organizations that represent over 365,000 teachers and education workers across Canada. The CTF/FCE is also an affiliate of Education International, which represents more than 32-million educators.
Media contact
Nika Quintao, Director of Public Affairs
Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE)
Contact
Mobile: 613-606-7809
Quebec’s Heidi Yetman begins her term as President of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation
Ottawa, July 14, 2023 – Heidi Yetman, former President of the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers (QPAT), began her two-year term as President of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE) following the Annual General Meeting in Ottawa.
Yetman succeeds outgoing President Sam Hammond.
“I am truly humbled to be stepping into Sam Hammond’s shoes as President of the CTF/FCE,” says Heidi. “Sam has been an extraordinary leader and a strong voice for the Federation, and I am honoured and excited to be able to continue the incredible work. Education across this country is facing significant challenges and our Federation will have an important role to play in ensuring that quality publicly funded public education becomes a true priority. I look forward to working with this talented Executive and amazing staff team to provide the best possible representation for teachers from all provinces and territories of Canada.”
Before becoming QPAT President, Heidi was president of the Pearson Teachers’ Union in Montreal after teaching Science and Art for 23 years at the high-school level. She has served as a Vice-President of the CTF/FCE from 2018 to 2019 and again beginning in 2021 before being elected as President-Designate in July 2022. From 2021-2023, she held dual roles of Executive liaison for the CTF/FCE’s Advisory Committee on the Status of Women and Advisory Committee on French as a First Language.
In addition to various committee work, Heidi attended the Education International (EI) 2019 8th World Congress in Bangkok, Thailand where she facilitated a women’s caucus session. Her journey has also led her to moderate the 2019 AGM Women’s Caucus and a women’s panel at the CTF/FCE Women’s Symposium. In 2020, Heidi was a keynote speaker at the Manitoba Teachers’ Society Women’s Symposium.
The following newly elected CTF/FCE Vice-Presidents will join President Heidi Yetman and Executive Director Cassandra Hallett to form the Executive team:
- Anne Vinet-Roy, Vice-President (Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens)
- Connie Keating, Vice-President (New Brunswick Teachers’ Association)
- Jenny Regal, Vice-President (The Alberta Teachers’ Association)
- Justin Matchett, Vice-President (Nunavut Teachers’ Association)
- Karen Littlewood, Vice-President (Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation)
In addition to the newly elected slate of Vice-Presidents, Shelley L. Morse, a member of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union and a former president of the CTF/FCE, was elected as the CTF/FCE candidate for the EI’s Executive Board at next year’s 10th World Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
About the CTF/FCE
Founded in 1920, the CTF/FCE is a national alliance of provincial and territorial teachers’ organizations that represent over 365,000 teachers and education workers across Canada. The CTF/FCE is also an affiliate of Education International, which represents more than 32-million educators.
Media contact
Nika Quintao, Director of Public Affairs
Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE)
Contact
Mobile: 613-606-7809
Canadian Teachers’ Federation Statement on Student Data Protection
Ottawa, July 10, 2023 – The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented disruptor to in-person education throughout the world and Canada was no exception. With little to no notice at all, teachers across the country found themselves teaching their students through computer screens and apps instead of in their classrooms. Switching to virtual learning created many challenges, such as securing sufficient devices and high-speed internet access for teachers and students, but the damaging legacy of the sudden change continues.
Emergency remote virtual learning became part of the daily routine of secondary, elementary, and even kindergarten students. But even as the severity of the pandemic waned, and students returned to in-person learning, repercussions of rash solutions introduced in 2020 remain. Those digital solutions, although practical to making virtual teaching and learning possible when being in school was not, have led to massive data trails left by students. Like easily found breadcrumbs, these trails have been gobbled up by edu-businesses looking to profit off the backs of students. From student assessment data to personal details, companies have obtained troves of information to monetize children and publicly funded public education.
Although technology companies have been working their way into classrooms for some time now, the pandemic fast-tracked student data collection. Governments enthusiastically invited big tech into the classroom, and the technological advances that made it possible for students and teachers to stay somewhat connected while school buildings were closed came at the cost of privacy and the very principles of publicly funded public education.
When schools pivoted to emergency remote-learning, tech companies had the opportunity to analyse data streams produced by students the same way they analyse the rest of the Internet – for marketing purposes. Suddenly, students became vulnerable like never before.
The mere existence of data is not the concern, but the way it is handled and sold is. Student assessment data only belongs in the hands of qualified teachers and public institutions that use it to assess student learning needs and allocate resources accordingly. When student data is used to market private tutoring services, sell learning apps, or become an indicator of neighbourhood profitability for the real estate industry, privatization and monetization threaten both equity and the very core of quality public education.
In response to the increasing and unchecked monetization of student data, the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE) strongly condemns any use of student assessment data for corporate profit. We call on the provincial and territorial governments to act by taking steps to protect privacy and prevent the misuse of student data. The CTF/FCE also calls upon the federal government to pass Bill C-27 to comprehensively protect consumer privacy and data of all Canadians.
While the CTF/FCE fully supports the use of appropriate technology in the professionally trained hands of teachers to help educate Canada’s youth, a line must be drawn when technology becomes a gateway to profiteering from students and our publicly funded public education systems. We must act now to expel edu-businesses from our schools to once again make classrooms safe places to teach and learn, putting students and public education before profit.
About the CTF/FCE
Founded in 1920, the CTF/FCE is a national alliance of provincial and territorial teachers’ organizations that represent over 365,000 teachers and education workers across Canada. The CTF/FCE is also an affiliate of Education International, which represents more than 32-million educators.
Media contact
Nika Quintao, Director of Public Affairs
Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE)
Contact
Mobile: 613-606-7809
Sam Hammond, CTF/FCE President
COVID-19, lockdowns, and emergency remote teaching and learning wreaked havoc on the public education community. In the pandemic’s wake, we have been left with a mental health crisis that has taken an enormous toll, threatening not only the lives and careers of teachers and educators, but Canada’s own publicly funded public education systems as well.
By the end of 2020, our research found that two-thirds of teachers had concerns about their mental health and well-being. A follow-up survey months later revealed that teachers and educators were experiencing long-term anxiety, stress, and depression due to increased expectations from work and the blurred realities of work and home life. But the pandemic didn’t create the teacher mental health crisis, it made it worse and made it public for all to see. Now we must work to address it.
Now, with the financial support of the federal government, and specifically the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE) has launched a pilot project focused on improving the mental health of teachers and education workers.
By working with mental health experts, including our partners at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, we hope to focus on topics ranging from trauma, resilience, compassion fatigue, psychological safety, and well-being, to name but a few. Once we begin, mental health experts will lead monthly online sessions with teachers and education workers to guide them to dive deeper on the specific areas.
This pilot program is unique because it’s being tailored to the needs and day-to-day realities of teachers and education workers. Also, the last thing teachers need is another task added to their long lists, which is why the program will be structured within their workday. It’s based on the collegial model, so it’s familiar and proven to be effective.
By the completion of the pilot project, the CTF/FCE hopes to understand more about how programming for whole-school mental illness prevention and mental health promotion can support educators in post-pandemic recovery and beyond.
With the collaboration of CTF/FCE Member Organizations, we have selected three K-12 schools in three jurisdictions that represent the vast diversity of schools and communities across Canada. They include English and French speaking populations, urban and rural settings, elementary and secondary schools, as well as small and large student and teacher populations.
This project, which is set to run from September 2023 to February 2024, is a step in the right direction to ensure teachers and educators have the necessary tools to address mental illness and trauma through the next phases of pandemic recovery.
The Canadian Teachers’ Federation
Founded in 1920, the CTF/FCE is a national alliance of provincial and territorial teachers’ organizations that represent over 365,000 teachers and education workers across Canada. The CTF/FCE is also an affiliate of Education International, which represents more than 32-million educators.
Media contact
Andrew King,
Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE)
Contact
Mobile: 819-213-7847
