Montreal school districts, in search of more teachers, say they're on track for return to class

Montreal's three French-language service centres and the two English-language school boards assert that only five per cent of teaching positions remain vacant in schools with the return to class two weeks away.

On Thursday, the city's five school districts held a joint news conference to reassure parents about the teacher shortage, saying a teacher or substitute will be present in every classroom at the start of the school year.

"We will never reach the magic number of zero positions to fill," said Isabelle Gélinas, head of the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM).

Alongside the CSSDM was the Centre de services scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Île (CSSPI), Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys (CSSMB), the Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) and the English Montreal School Board (EMSB).

"We will never reach zero because it's a continuous cycle," Gélinas said. "There are always people going on sick leave or maternity leave, who need to be absent."

Additionally, throughout the year, the continuous enrolment of students requires the creation of more student groups and more teachers to hire.

The three service centres and the two school boards together have 486 institutions, which accommodate about 280,000 regular and adult students, represents 20 per cent of Quebec's school population.

Student population increasing

This summer alone, the three service centres registered more than 3,800 new students. .

The start of the school year requires school administrators to co-ordinate complex tasks, such as recruiting and assigning staff, managing student registrations, composing classes, organizing school transportation, improving buildings and adapting educational services to meet students' specific needs, according to a joint news release.

"Some students have very personalized needs, and many of them come from outside Quebec," Gélinas said.

Not all teachers are licensed to teach in the province, but they have at least obtained a bachelor's degree, the news release says.

However, all staff, including those without a teaching licence, are receiving the necessary support and training to ensure that the quality of education meets the standards of Quebec's public school system, the release says.

The number of teachers needed in school districts throughout the province varies, with 3,858 posts vacant. At the same time last year, there were 3,420 vacant teaching positions.

"While the number of positions to be filled is being reduced, the number of positions to be created is constantly increasing," said Education Minister Bernard Drainville, on Wednesday.

"The finish line is constantly moving away from us."

Drainville confident more positions will be filled

In October 2023, Quebec had 89,268 teaching positions. Currently, there are 95,273 positions.

Drainville cited immigration as the cause of this increase, but he said more teachers are also choosing to work four days per week instead of five.

He remains confident that the number of vacant positions will continue to drop in the coming days. Since Friday, he noted, more than 1,800 teachers have been hired.

These six regions are where the situation is most acute, according to government data:

• Montreal: 1,061 vacant positions (5.1 per cent of vacant positions).
• Montérégie: 776 vacant positions (4.6 per cent).
• Laurentians: 668 vacant positions (7.6 per cent).
• Capitale-Nationale: 193 vacant positions (2.4 per cent).
• Lanaudière: 187 vacant positions (3.3 per cent).
• Mauricie: 135 vacant positions (5.2 per cent).