what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Hi I'm thinking about starting a teaching career here in London, England with plans in the next 2-3 years to move to Vancouver island with my family. However I'm stuck on the type of teaching to go into and I need to apply this September (do I chose primary or college teaching?) I am currently working in a secondary school as a special needs support worker but feel that there are no subjects for this age group that interests me. I have a degree in psychology so I wouldn't mind teaching that at A level or teaching junior aged children appeals to me because of their thirst to learn and absorb info at this age. Does anyone have an idea of the teaching demands in Nanaimo and surrounding areas?thanks

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Maths, science or modern languages. Everything else they've loads of already.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

However the chances of getting a teaching job are very slim, have a plan b.
Even new graduates in BC are having a hard time finding work.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Have to agree with Aviator,

I was stood in the playground this afternoon with a student teacher who graduates in June ... she was upset and told me that if she'd known what the prospects (especially recently) and job security were like she'd have never gone into teaching :(.

Sorry to sound a bit gloomy but it's pretty tough for the teachers with little or no seniority ( and Ed Assistants, like me) here in Nanaimo. Nanaimo school district covers all of the city, plus Cedar & Ladysmith.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Tell her to be patient. People retire and enrolments fluctuate all the time. Maybe not in the Nanaimo district but she'll get a job eventually.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

187 laid off today ?
http://www.vsb.bc.ca/district-news/v...layoff-notices

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

This one says 340 !! http://www.straight.com/article-3247...epares-layoffs

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

I would echo the above posters. The other thing to bear in mind is that just because you are a qualified teacher in the UK doesn't mean that you will be accepted by the BC Ministry of Education (previously the BC College of Teachers) of being worthy!

I had 8 years of teaching A Level in the UK in an independent school after having done a two year conversion course, and the BCMoE decided that I would have to take a course in Assessment of Students. Amusing considering I marked for exam boards as well as my own students etc :blink:

Roles in certain areas are dropping (e.g. North Shore Van) but growing heavily in others (e.g Surrey) to the point where their infrastructure is struggling to cope.

I would strongly advise liaising with the Ministry before hand to see if you meet their criteria etc, as that could alleviate frustration before landing :thumbup:

Another avenue is to have a look at the private schools here, which have a slightly more balanced view of experience and credentials. There are plenty in Vancouver, including a dedicated special needs school.

Hope this helps a little, but if you have any more questions, just send me a pm.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

And just in case you haven't read it already - http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Teaching_in_Canada

:)

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Based on the reality, the OP's best bet is Surrey school district surely?

I have to admit that's one thing I don't get in all this. I have some teacher grad friends who cant' get full time work in their districts of choice (Bby, coquitlam etc) but who won't go to Surrey. I don't get it...

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Parochial Canadians.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

You've been to Surrey? Some parts, you'd get it.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

'Tis beyonde the Porte Mann Bridge. Thar be dragons and wilde beasts!

There might as well be the way you hear some north of Fraser people go on.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

I am on Vancouver Island and I agree with other posts have a huge plan B made! A friend of ours is a teacher from Edmonton, very experienced and is working at a local hardware store. Another neighbour's daughter graduated more than a year ago and cannot get a job and is planning on going to China. I would get hold of the Ministry as someone else said. Each area is divided into Districts and times are hard! Unless you are in Victoria most often it is very difficult to get any job on Vancouver Island especially a newby! Sorry to sound gloomy, but I think you must research this properly in order not to be disappointed. Good Luck

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

I'm an elementary school teacher in BC. I've taught in Vancouver, Victoria and now the interior. Prospects for employment can be gloomy, but it's still possible if you have time, patience, and another income source (ex, a partner). It also helps if you make your base outside of Vancouver and Victoria as the largest surplus of teachers are in these areas.

Your best chances for employment are in French immersion education. There is a huge demand from parents for this program and school districts want to run as many classrooms as possible. In fact, as a French immersion teacher, you could almost have your choice of location and grades.

I strongly recommend against going into special education. Unfortunately, the provincial government is moving away from hiring special education teachers, and hiring more education assistants (EAs) instead (ex, their proposed Learning Improvement Fund - LIF). This is because EAs are cheaper than special education teachers. The special education teachers who remain in the system spend less and less time working one-on-one with special needs children and, instead, spend more time managing EA schedules and programs.

Nanaimo, specifically, has an incredibly high number of Teachers on Call (TOCs) in comparison to other school districts. Work can be sparse and, as seniority is weighted heavily in BC, it takes time to get a permanent position. However, as I mentioned above, an ability to teach French immersion can make a big difference.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

:D

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Hi everyone, my husband has just received his certification to teach in b.c but we are unsure what. To do next, how do we get a job and visa? Any advice will be greatly appreciated!!!
Thank you
:)

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Welcome to BE.

Do you need him to get a job for a visa? Or are you Canadian, or have another route to a visa?

If the former, then as per the Wiki link above, it's going to be nigh on impossible, but if he has another way of getting a visa then it should be easier (although still not easy).

Let us know your intended visa route, and hopefully somebody with knowledge of teaching in BC can direct you to the right place to look.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Please start up a school for understanding humour, sarcasm and irony.

Thanks!

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Thank you for replying.
As far as we know, we need a job offer to get a visa!? But unsure if applying for teaching jobs on the net, is the best we can do? Is there another, easier and quicker way (visa) of getting into bc? What is the chances of getting a permanent residents visa to move to canada?
Thank you:)

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

If you need a job offer to get a visa, then what do you do? Realistically, as per the Wiki article, you've got pretty much no hope of a school going through the paperwork/hassle/wait of hiring your husbamd and the LMO being granted with so many Canadian teachers out of work. But if you can find a job offer, then it may be that your husband will get an open work permit, so would be much more employable. So do you have skills that would be more in demand in Canada maybe?

Another option is for you to go on a study permit, that would then also give your husband an open work permit.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

I thought that would be the case :( . I'm unsure on what other skills r in demand so will have to research that. Is it worth giving up everything in uk to take the chance of getting sponsored in a job if we take the one year open visa? Or is there another way of getting permanent residency? Thank you for being so helpful :)

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Ah, so you're both under 30? The IEC may well be an option then, it would at least get you over there and you'd both be able to start work immediately rather than an employer having to get the LMO etc.

If you want to know what jobs have been in demand in recent years, then this is 'the list' of eligible occupations for Skilled Workers that has been in place since June 2010 (worth noting that teachers have never been on 'the list'). http://britishexpats.com/wiki/THE_LIST-Canada

I'm sure you read it above, but here is the Wiki article about teaching in Canada in case you didn't see it - http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Teaching_in_Canada

There are various other ways to get PR, do you have any family in Canada, what do you do for a job and have either of you ever been self-employed or worked in the job on 'the list' above? And would you consider a different province rather than BC?

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Yes, we are both 27. I am not sure what IEC is? No, unfort we don't have any of the skills on the list and I work in a care home at the moment.? Unfort we don't have any family, or been self employed. We would prop consider another province if it helps us getting to Canada faster and having a good chance of PR. you say if we get a IEC we can start employment immediately, is that with finding a job before we arrive in Canada or having to find a job when we arrive?
Thank you:)

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Hi,

Just to let you know our story, we are hoping to get PR via MPNP next year, we are moving to Brandon in Manitoba, my wife has just received her letter of eligibility for a permanent teaching certificate for Manitoba, she is currently a kindergarten teacher and early years manager here in the UK. During our trip to canada this summer she met with the head of HR in the Brandon School Division, she was told that job prospects in the next year or so are good, with many teachers soon to retire and the provincial goverments policy to reduce class sizes. She was also told that they are very short of substitute teachers, especially in the winter time, this is due to the fact that most sub teachers are retired and drawing a pension, and for tax purposes are only allowed to earn so much before it affects their pension entitlement, so from the information i have, Manitoba still seems to have prospects for UK expat teachers. Another way to increase your employability is to get a TEFL qualification, with more and more immigrants landing in Canada, teaching English to foreign language students will be on the increase. Hope this helps.


Regards

Andrew

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

IEC is the working holiday visa, there is a list of abbreviations in the Wiki.

You can try and find a job in Canada before you arrive on the IEC, or find one when you get there, your choice.

Look at the PNP's for NS and MB, both of which have options to get PR without a job offer.

HTH.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Hi Andrew
Thank you for your help! I was just wondering on how you managed to get the teaching position? Did you apply through the net? Unfort we already applied and received the teaching certificate for BC and really hoping to move there but if all fails, we will research around Manitoba.
Thank you Christmasoopma for all your help and advice, I am finally getting somewhere! :)

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

If you look at Andrew's previous posts, it appears that they've applied for PR under the Family Stream of the Manitoba PNP - from reading his post above I don't think his wife has a job offer yet, but she will hopefully find it easier to find one as she'll be a PR when she arrives.

:)

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Hi Bianca,

Its not me that is the teacher, its my wife. We have been going to canada for many years, my parents and two brothers have lived there for 20 years, so over that time we have built up a large network via friends and family. We have many contacts within the teaching community, its just a matter of getting your name bounded around, its a bit "who you know, not what you know" . She has not got a job yet, just the promise of work on arrival. Until landing any job offer would have to have had a labour Market Opinion assessment and as someone on this thread mentioned previously, that would be very difficult to do as there are many unemployed Canadian teachers already, so why give a job to an immigrant? However when you land as PR, you are entitled to apply for any job that any other Canadian Citizen would be without any regulation. Hope this helps

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Hi guys,

Have read some great info on here. Hopefully someone will be able to fill in a couple of gaps for me.

My wife (29 years old) and I (31) are looking into emigrating to Canada from Ireland. She qualified as a Primary School Teacher last year and was lucky enough to be employed for the duration of this school year, covering maternity leave. This is regarded as her DIP (probation) year. She is also attending college at night in order to get her Honours Degree. Will she have sufficient work experience to be employed in BC? I understand that jobs are very difficult to come by at the moment. Is she at least likely to find it reasonably easy to get relief/cover/subbing work for three to four days per week?

I am an electrician and it is likely that I could secure employment in Vancouver. I haven't yet fully researched the various exams I'll have to do but I understand that we should be ok travelling on my visa, as mine is regarded as an 'in-demand' skill.

My wife has worked hard to achieve her dream of becoming a Primary Teacher so I'm not going to drag her to Canada if it means giving this up. We would consider other parts of Canada (or the world!) as long as it doesn't involve me flying out to mines or oil rigs. I've agreed to be home every evening! We would also prefer if it wasn't too remote an area, as we are both from a city. However, we might consider a more rural setting on a short-term basis if doing so was likely to result in better opportunities down the line.

Sorry for the long post. Many thanks for any replies.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Hi,

As far as i know she will need a 4 year degree and will have to send all her degree course transcripts + Certificates to the governing education body in her chosen province, every province is different, my OH has her permanent eligibility certificate issued by Manitoba, so on landing she is good to go.

As far as substitute teaching is concerned, Manitoba is very short of sub teachers as most are retirees who can only earn so much before they loose their pension payments + lots head south in the winter and are not available. There is no guarantee one how many days employment she would get and she would not be paid over the 2 month summer holidays. Hope this helps.

Regards

Andrew

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Your wife's best bet is probably to look into working for a private school. Plenty of unemployed Canadian teaching grads in Vancouver and she'd be competing with those for the public schools. As far as supply teaching goes, i would be SHOCKED...shocked.. if she managed to get 3 -5 subbing days a week in Greater Vancouver any time soon. The Cdn teaching grads I know would give their eye -teeth to get that much work. You really should do some reading on the situation for supply teaching (it's called TOC here or teachers on call) - as grads compete with retired teachers here for it with the result the less experienced teachers often lose out.

One of my friends, who actually worked for a local School district as a special education assistant before becoming a teacher - so she knows lots of people in the district - is still hoping to even get on their TOC list for any supply work, let alone 3-4 days a week.

She graduated over a year ago. AND she has principals and teachers wanting to help.

Like the poster above said it is quite likely she would not get enough work to live on, even if she did get any work.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the reply.

After this year, she will have a 4 year degree, as the night classes are regarded as full-time.

I suppose we'll focus on finding a province where my job has good prospects in a location that offers a good quality of life. Then we can look into the situation in that location regarding Primary School Teaching. Our hope would be that, after a year or two subbing, my wife would have the contacts & experience necessary to be a good candidate for full-time teaching jobs.

Thanks again.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Hi, thanks for your post.

I don't think my wife would really have a preference whether she worked in private or public so she would definitely apply to both.

We would certainly not be expecting that she'd get a job straight away, especially considering the number of unemployed Canadian grads. However, would it not be likely that she would get cover/relief work in the meantime?

Is it a similar situation regarding teaching in other provinces? I'd also have a good chance of getting work in Saskatchewan or Alberta. Both sound mighty chilly in the wintertime though. I think we'd get used to Vancouver easier. But we'd consider the other two locations if it is likely that my wife will have an easier time finding regular work there.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Hey - I updated my post.

I would have to say no.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Wow, that sounds at least as bad as Ireland if that's possible.

Would it be any better for her if we widened the search? How about other parts of BC, Alberta, or Saskatchewan? Wherever we live, we're prepared to commute up to an hour to work (and an hour back!).

Beginning to get desperate now! I do appreciate your honesty though. Far better to find out now than down the line. Cheers.

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

I have no idea about other parts of Canada. It's all very far away from here...

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

The least oversubscribed province as far as teachers are concerned is Manitoba, the city of Winnipeg employed 30 more teachers this year due to the provincial governments decision to make class sizes smaller.

Good Luck

Andrew

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Sounds promising. According to a quick search, there's a good demand for electricians in Manitoba too.
What's the quality of life like? It looks to be one very cold spot! Is there much to see and do?

Re: what type of teaching is required in BC?
 

Well its one of the less happening provinces but if you want space then this is the place. Total population is around 1.4 million. Yes cold in the winter, sometimes 35-40 below but the people of manitoba are so friendly, they call it "Friendly Manitoba" House prices in this province are the cheapest in Canada. Its flat, no scenery, but a very up and coming province, lots of investment in the Winnipeg area. We are going because we have been there visiting immediate family for the last 20 years and we love it.

Regards

Andrew