The head of one local teachers union says we're on the precipice of a huge turnaround for teacher retirements.
Erin Roy, President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation District 9, says after a late hiring blitz of teachers in the late 90s, they are now all due for retirement.
The Ministry of Education expects a teacher shortage will get worse in 2027 due to retirements and student enrollment both being on the rise.
The warning is contained in a series of briefing documents for the new minister of education, obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom-of-information request, which says many school boards are also experiencing challenges recruiting and retaining enough qualified teachers, particularly in areas such as French and tech education.
Word of teacher supply and demand struggles is not new to the unions representing Ontario's teachers, who say one of the main issues is working conditions, including violence in classrooms, too few special education supports, and not enough money for classroom supplies.
Roy told AM800's The Dan MacDonald Show that they're seeing more teachers resigning before they're set to retire due to working conditions, class sizes, and salaries not keeping up with inflation.
"There's just budgetary pressures everywhere. It seems that we're having to do way more with way less. The funding isn't there," she says.
Roy it's the first time in her career where she's seeing people with 25 years of experience just leaving the profession.
"Teachers are educating the next generation, and we need to support them in some way, pay them in way, and make sure their working conditions are in line to keep them; otherwise, it's just going to continue to falter," she says.
The briefing documents say that the gap between the number of teachers needed and the number of teachers available is expected to widen beginning in 2027.
Some unions across the province say it may be time to rethink the move from a one-year to a two-year program at teachers' college, which was done about a decade ago.
A spokesperson for Education Minister Jill Dunlop says the government has cut timelines for processing applications and allowed second-year teacher candidates to work as supply teachers, among other measures, and now school boards and education unions need to address teacher absenteeism.