Union leader says he's hopeful despite Quebec school staff shortages

CSQ President Éric Gingras offered a message of hope to teachers and education professionals ahead of the new school year, saying Quebec's staff shortages should gradually improve.

It's thanks in part to the 4,000 classroom assistants added to support teachers during the last round of collective bargaining, as well as to improved working conditions in general, said Gingras at his traditional back-to-school press conference.

For this year, the president of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec, which represents 125,000 workers in the education sector, expects a year similar to the last one.

He refused to get into a war of figures with Education Minister Bernard Drainville, who last week asserted that there was still a shortfall of 5,700 teachers.

The presidents of the CSQ federations representing professionals and support staff were keen to point out that there is also a shortage of speech therapists, psychologists, school secretaries, specialized workers and others.

For support staff, for example, there are 1,380 educator positions to be filled.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 19, 2024.