Edmonton public schools to hire more than 300 new teachers, support staff

EPSB says it plans to hire more than 300 teachers and educational assistants before the end of the year for the classroom complexity program.

The Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB) intends to hire more than 300 teachers and educational assistants in the coming months.

The division is looking to hire 101 teachers and 202 educational assistants to create three-person complexity teams to assist day-to-day classroom challenges.

Mid-February, the province allocated $143 million left over from last year’s budget to create 476 complexity teams for K-6 schools across Alberta. The EPSB will see $30.3 million of that grant.

It’s estimated that nearly 1,500 people will need to be hired in Alberta to staff the effort.

Complexity teams are meant to provide in-class assistance to teachers, including helping students learn English, managing disruptive students or providing other enrichment activities.

A board spokesperson says the division is aiming to have those new complexity teams in schools by April.

“We are managing an expedited teacher hiring process and are also doubling the number of participants in our Educational Assistant Internship program,” they said.

EPSB did say it was concerned about the availability of qualified staff to fill these roles during its board meeting, and says the province has approved carrying the money over to the next school year should any go unused.

The provincial government announced $10.8 billion in education funding at the end of February as part of Budget 2026.