Despite teacher shortages, some new grads still face roadblocks getting into classrooms

When Megan Ansems received an email this spring from Nova Scotia's Department of Education and Early Childhood Development containing her teacher licence number, you might say she was excited.

"I was getting ready to tattoo that number on my arm," said Ansems, who graduated this spring from Halifax's Mount Saint Vincent University with a Bachelor of Education.

Ansems, who focused on high school math and science, got a jump start on her career when Nova Scotia gave early certification to nearly 300 teacher-candidates just shy of graduation, so they could fill in as substitute teachers during another wave of COVID-19. 

A shortage of teachers as well as certified substitutes to fill in for them emerged as a major disruption to Canadian classrooms in past waves of the pandemic, and is also expected to continue this fall. But there's a fresh cohort of new educators — like Ansems — eager to fill the gaps this coming school year, especially after many saw first-hand the last few years how much they're needed.

However, some are facing obstacles — both new and pre-dating the pandemic — to getting stable work in classrooms. 

Now working at a summer day camp in Kentville, N.S., Ansems is waiting on teaching job applications she sent out, but also readying for a return to daily substitute teaching. 

"I'm excited to go back to the school board and sub for September, October, as long as they'll have me," she said.

In Ontario, where a program granted teacher-candidates who were close to graduation temporary certification, Chelsey Brassard also had a busy spring teaching as a substitute. 

After applying for the temporary certification in January during her final semester at the University of Ottawa, she received approval in May — after she'd already finished her program and graduated. With that under her belt, Brassard said she was called upon as a supply teacher every single school day until the end of June. 

However, now midway through August, Brassard has yet to receive permanent status despite having graduated. She says she's paid fees to the provincial teacher certification body and submitted her documentation several times; she initiated the process back in in 2021 because she anticipated delays. 

Brassard is eligible to work as a daily on-call teacher under the temporary certificate until it expires in December, but she believes without permanent status, she's being held back. 

"Some schools will hire you in, on condition that you get your full licence before it expires. Some schools have said, 'We don't want to take that risk,'" she said.

"[It's] really frustrating to now see I'm so close, but I still can't grab that job or that dream."

In a statement to CBC News, the Ontario College of Teachers said most delays were due to "incomplete applications" and said applications are being processed within 30 business days.