Quebec short more than 8,000 teachers ahead of new school year, minister confirms

The teacher shortage in Quebec appears to be worse than previously thought.

With the start of the school year just days away, the province revealed there are now 8,558 teaching positions that have to be filled.

Education Minister Bernard Drainville confirmed the number Wednesday at the National Assembly. Data compiled by the ministry breaks down to 1,859 full-time teachers and 6,699 part-time teachers who are missing from the school network.

Last week, a survey by the Fédération québécoise des directions d’établissement d'enseignement (FQDE) estimated the teacher shortage was at roughly 5,000 teachers.

On Wednesday, Drainville said the labour shortage presents "a considerable challenge," adding that "it is a reality for which there is no magic solution."

"I was a parent. I know what back-to-school is like. It's stressful," Drainville told reporters. "It's even more so when you ask yourself, 'will my child have a teacher in their classroom?'"

To deal with the labour shortage, the minister said it will have to rely on unqualified people to attend classrooms affected by the lack of staff. Drainville has promised at least "one adult" per classroom where it's needed by next week — that is, one person who doesn't have a teaching degree.

The short-term fix raises questions about the quality of education Quebec students will receive when they walk into the classroom for the new school year.

Premier François Legault issued an urgent plea to teachers willing to help: "We need you," he said Wednesday.

During a news conference at the National Assembly, he said the CAQ government has invested in education in recent years by adding specialists for children with special needs and increasing salaries for teachers.

"But we have to do more," he said.

"We'll do the best we can. And I think that we did more here than anywhere else in the world in any other governments before. But what is impossible is impossible."

On the move to add unqualified adults to classrooms, the premier said "it can help" and that long-term solutions to the shortage will take years to bear any fruit.

Teacher Nassima Sayah gives instructions during a French integration class for new arrivals, Wednesday, January 25, 2023 in Montreal.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

'IT'S A BIG NUMBER'

The education minister said he's counting on retired teachers to come back to work, but the head of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), which represents more than 87,000 teachers in the province, said he doesn't believe that plan will work.

Éric Gingras said many have retired because of poor working conditions.

[Teachers] even go into retirement with cuts on their salaries …they go earlier than expected because their workload is too heavy. So, if you ask them to come back, they won't come back," Gingras said.

The CSQ president also said Wednesday the numbers from the ministry don't paint the whole picture. Taking into account support staff and professionals, such as therapists, the shortage in the education network across Quebec would be closer to 12,000 positions, Gingras said.

"It's a big number," he said in an interview, referring to the 8,000 figure, adding that the province needs to work on retaining teachers who are already in the system to prevent them from leaving in the first place.

"The first thing you have to do is give them hope, saying you're going to take care of it, the salaries are going to be better, workload is going to be better, and even for all workers," he said, "because we're talking about teachers, but if you don't attract support staff, if you don't attract therapists, it won't help teachers, and it's going to be the same thing over and over again."

With files from CTV News Montreal's Amanda Kline and The Canadian Press