"Elementary school teachers in Ontario earn an average $80,392 in salary and benefits, according to the ministry of education. Secondary school teachers earn slightly more, an average of $83,543.

With the wage increases on offer, the average elementary school teacher's salary will rise to $90,481 in four years."

Source: Canada.com

Do they really make that much money? I was reading some posts in this forum somewhere that people were complaining about salary of a teacher and not being able find a teaching job etc. The teacher's salary seems much better than an IT professional salary in Canada. Thanks.

I don't remember anyone complaining about teachers' salaries.

What has been said on this forum many times is that it is very difficult to get your foot into the door and secure a job as an elementary or high school teacher in most parts of Canada. That's because teaching is a heavily unionized occupation.

The people who are poorly paid are those who work in the field of early childhood services (workers in daycare facilities and the like).
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I really don't think that unions have anything to do with this issue and resent the implication that they do.

Teaching is a certificated profession and one has to meet the qualifications of the particular province in which a person is living in order to gain a teaching certificate. See: http://www.education.alberta.ca/teac...ification.aspx

Once that is in place you are hired by school boards, not unions.

The main reason it is difficult to get a teaching position is the cutbacks of the early nineties right across the country which resulted in many teaching positions being eliminated and many teachers being surplussed.

It is only now that funding is being put back and teachers are being hired in any sort of numbers.

Unfortunately there is a relatively large backlog of qualified teachers to be hired first plus recent graduates. This means that school boards are not likely to be recruiting overseas.

Steve, I'll try to express this in less offensive terms.

I think it's fair to say that teaching, at least to some extent, is a controlled occupation.

It's controlled, because in the vast majority of cases a government entity is the employer.

It's also controlled because it's limited to those who have fulfilled the education requirements. In most provinces, accreditation / licensing also is limited to those who already have authorization to work in Canada.

If the free market system were in operation, compensation for teachers would float up and down in response to supply and demand.

I'm not advocating that the government get out of the teaching business, and I'd not suggesting that teaching be subjected to free market forces.

I'm just trying to describe the reality on the ground.

I agree with everything you said about teaching in Canada.

"Unionized" was an attempt to use a short hand term that, in broad brush strokes, would describe the situation. I'm sorry if it caused offence.
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