Nova Scotia Teachers Union ratifies contract with province
CBC
Public school teachers in Nova Scotia have ratified a new contract agreement with the province.
The Nova Scotia Teachers Union, which represents 10,000 teachers in the province, released the results on Wednesday evening showing 91 per cent of its members voted 80.5 per cent in favour of the deal.
"The contract moves teachers priorities forward, which were working conditions for teachers, classroom conditions for kids, their salary, restoring purchasing power and dealing with the retention and recruitment crisis. So you know, the contract made some gains on all of those things," union president Ryan Lutes told CBC News.
In a news release, the NSTU noted that when compound interest is factored in, the contract gives teachers a salary increase of 11.47 per cent over three years retroactive to Aug. 1, 2023.
Substitute teachers will also see a raise with an additional 12 per cent salary increase. They also now require eight fewer consecutive days to qualify as a full-time teacher. Lutes said this should help with the teacher shortage.
Ahead of the contract being accepted, Lutes said teachers want more action from the province on school violence. He said they have pushed to have more mental health resources available in schools. As a result, he said more counsellors will be added to the school system.
"That's going to have a positive impact on our kids and hopefully that has an impact on decreasing school violence as well," he said.
Lutes said school violence is complex and more work will need to be done to address it.
Teachers were not able to get the smaller class sizes they had hoped for, but Lutes said they're not expected to get any bigger than they are now.
"If the population continues to increase like it has, the number of teachers are going to have to increase. So that's something that teachers will definitely hold on to for our next round of bargaining and look to lower those because I think, overall, our teachers recognize that kids have more needs than they did 10,15, 20 years ago and and class sizes need to adjust to reflect those needs," he said.
The contract is in effect until July 31, 2026.
Nova Scotia's Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Becky Druhan said the agreement recognizes that students are at the core of the education system.
"We've heard from teachers about how to improve classroom conditions and outcomes and are acting on a shared commitment to create great learning and great working environments, both through this new agreement and through ongoing work at the departmental, regional and school levels," Druhan said in a news release on Wednesday night.
The department said the agreement will be posted online in the coming days.
This story was first published on Oct. 20, 2025.
From three premiers in one year to demands for deeper accountability in the education system, a bone-dry August, and long-promised bridge and ferry toll cuts, 2025 delivered no shortage of news.
A retirement community in Port Charlotte, on the west coast of Florida, has its Canadian patriotism fiercely on display.
From the World Series to floods, photojournalist Ben Nelms’s coverage of daily life has offered a window into current events in British Columbia.
According to Cole DeLargie-Campbell, being diagnosed with a terminal disease has been both deeply sad and a “blessing in disguise.”
The coming year will see some changes to existing tax measures, the abandonment of others and some help for personal support workers. But overall changes to the taxes individuals pay will be minor in 2026.
WARNING: This story contains references to missing and murdered Indigenous people. Resources can be found at the bottom of this story.
New year changes from federal, provincial and municipal governments are hitting Toronto this year, ranging from more Vitamin D in dairy products to new 407 ETR rates and recycling changes.
Out with the old, in with the new.
It's been a wild week of winter weather in the London region, with freezing rain, snow, high winds and temperature swings.
From Sydney to Paris to New York City and Toronto, crowds rang in the new year with exuberant celebrations filled with thunderous fireworks or light shows, while others took a more subdued approach.
Four-time Olympian Ellie Black and Mi’kmaw ethnologist Roger Lewis are among the latest Nova Scotian appointees to the Order of Canada.
Christmas is often a time of gathering and community for church communities, but one church on the outskirts of Fredericton found itself a victim of theft this holiday season.