As negotiations between the province and teachers are at a standstill, and with the Alberta government to issue back-to-work legislation Monday, CTV News Edmonton looks at other jurisdictions in Canada that have been in recent contract negotiations to see how they compare. Saskatchewan Negotiations between teachers and the Government of Saskatchewan took more than two years before a contract was signed in April 2025. The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) was persistent in the need for classroom complexity issues to be addressed. Some teachers detailed the issues they faced, including being physically attacked by students. As the province pushed back on wages and classroom complexity, teachers embarked on the longest string of job action in Saskatchewan’s history with a series of rotating strikes. The government and the STF agreed to binding arbitration in the summer of 2024. Arbitrators included a classroom complexity fund of $20 million in the contract and provisions to hire new teachers. The contract also included a salary increase of nine per cent over three years. British Columbia The B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) is currently in negotiations with the provincial government on a new contract after the old one expired at the end of June. Union president Carole Gordon said negotiations are going more smoothly than what is being seen east of the Rockies, and that the BCTF stands with Alberta teachers. “We know the struggle,” she said. B.C. teachers have had language around classroom complexity included in their contract for about a decade. She said working conditions will help attract more people to the profession. “You have to address those working conditions, the class size, class complexity supports,” said Gordon. “People come into the profession because they want to help kids learn, and that can be really difficult if you don’t address the working conditions.” Teachers in B.C. are also asking for more classroom supports as they are “more complex than ever,” said Gordon. While there are still scheduled negotiations, Gordon said the job action could be on the table if there is a stalemate. Ontario About 84,000 members of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) were surveyed to gather input to determine the union’s priorities going into negotiations. Class size emerged as a unifying issue with Grades 4 to 8 without class size caps, which are funded to support 24 students. Although the contract doesn’t expire until Aug. 31, 2026, both parties are preparing to head to the bargaining table. Similar to Saskatchewan, the ETFO is hoping to address some of the violence being seen in classrooms. Manitoba Manitoban teachers signed a new contract in 2024 with 95 per cent of teachers voting in favour of the agreement. A highlight of the agreement was a 12.25 per cent wage increase over four years, making teachers in Manitoba among the highest-paid in the country. The increase was for all anglophone teachers who are members of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society, in hopes of getting teachers to work in rural and remote communities. The contract also included an increase in prep time per school cycle from 180 minutes to 210 minutes.
