Moving to Canada on IEC next year
 

Hello,

I’ve just received my Port of Entry Letter to live and work in Canada next year. At the moment, I’m very much flexible on the where and understanding Canada is huge! Currently I’m drawn to the British Columbia district possibly Victoria or outside BC, maybe Winnipeg. However my question is does anyone have advice on how to go about teaching secondary in Canada. I feel where I settle may depend on where I can get a job.

I know teaching in Canada is a difficult profession to obtain as many Canadians come to schools in London for work. However, Ideally I would like to have a job for end of august/beginning of september 2019. And do odd jobs and travel a little in the 3-4 months that I arrive before hand. In London I have 4 years teaching experience in a high achieving all girl school, many teaching responsibilities and duties. I’m fortunate to have a range of experiences in teaching that will hopefully make me a desirable candidate. Is applying to private schools my best option? Or do I apply directly to a district? I’ve managed to get a teaching contact in Canada which I have emailed to find out advice too.

Thank you in advance! So glad I found this site, hoping a solo move to Canada won’t be so daunting now! Very excited.

Re: Moving to Canada on IEC next year
 

Have you had a medical examination carried out by an IRCC Panel Physician?
If not and you want to look at teaching then you will require one.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...residents.html

Re: Moving to Canada on IEC next year
 

Yes I’ve had a medical and passed :)

Re: Moving to Canada on IEC next year
 

Hello and welcome to BE! :welcome:

To teach in a public school you would need to obtain certification from the Provincial body (whichever Province you hope to teach in). You may be able to work in a private school, but many of them require Provincial certification as well.

https://www.bcteacherregulation.ca/T...Graduates.aspx
http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/profcer.../overview.html

There is a surfeit of teachers in Canada, generally, with a lot of teachers having to work 'supply' for many years.

We do have a Wiki article about teaching in Canada (with links to Provincial bodies) that might be of use : http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Teaching_in_Canada

:)

Re: Moving to Canada on IEC next year
 

It is pretty rare for even a Canadian trained teacher ti get a full time permanent job straight out from university.

Elementary teachers mostly tend to have a BEd degree in elementary education, and most will also do DipEd programme,. The exceptions would be in music, art, library IF the School Board is able to hire these specialty teachers.

High schools usually hire teachers with degrees in their specialty (BA, BSc, etc) and then require the DipEd qualification in addition to that.

A DipEd or BEd is required by most (if not all) school districts.

FWIW ............. bachelors' degrees in Canada are 4 years, and a DipEd at UBC in Vancouver is a 16 month programme.

Certification of teachers is provincial, but hiring is done by the individual School Boards ........ there are 60 Boards in BC alone.

Hiring would therefore require both a DipEd or BEd AND provincial certification

BC is currently hiring because they had to reduce class sizes last year (long story), and have had trouble filling certain specialized positions, eg French immersion. Most other positions have been filled, largely from the TOC listing, and new hires are generally to make sure they have the TOC list filled.

Many schools will attempt to hire teachers they know from the TOC list ........... I know of one school where certain teachers on call have been told by the Principal not to take any other TOC calls because he will have enough to employ them almost full time.

Note that TOC teachers can be required to teach anything ............ and may end up with a physics class when they are an English specialist. It becomes a case of a teacher is sick, a replacement is needed, and the last person left on the list is not a specialist.

As an example of what might happen ............... my niece is a teacher and finally got a full-time job last year after 16 years on TOC. She was restricted to a small town for the last 8 years, but still she offers PE and Math.

We have another family member who is a teacher, and has a BSc, MSc, BEd, and then later added a PhD in education in anticipation of moving into administration (ie Vice-Principal and Principal of a school).


I should also point out that BC, especially Vancouver and Victoria, are very expensive places to live ................ both cities found that extra hiring over last summer was particularly difficult as they lost permanent teachers to other areas in the province where living costs were much lower and so were replacing teachers and looking for new hires. I know of several young teachers who turned jobs down in Metro Vancouver because of the cost of living.

Re: Moving to Canada on IEC next year
 

NOTE:-

I should add to the above that in BC, a teacher also has to be registered with the BC College of Teachers, in addition to having provincial certification.

You are not allowed to teach in BC without that registration


The same may apply in other provinces.