Back-to-school season at Quebec colleges marked by shortage of teachers, support staff

College staff raising labour shortage alarm Quebec CEGEP teachers and staff are sounding the alarm as they’re short-staffed.

With one week to go before the start of the new school year, the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) says it is concerned that some CEGEPs will be unable to offer certain services and even some courses due to a lack of staff.

The CSQ and its affiliated unions in the college network are asking Quebec to improve the working conditions of CEGEP staff to deal with a staff shortage that is beginning to affect the institutions.

The leaders of the central union and its three federations representing teachers, professionals and support staff in the college sector met with the media in Montreal on Monday to share their concerns.

The attractiveness of both the private and public sectors is causing a shortage of teachers, particularly in computer technology, industrial electronics technology, nursing and pharmacy technology.

In some colleges, several course loads have still not been distributed to teachers because there are no teachers to take them on.

In addition, union leaders point out that students coming out of the two-year pandemic with distance, hybrid or other alternative teaching methods are ill-prepared to take on what they call "the student job" and require upgrades that are an additional burden on staff.

Also, the lack of professionals, such as educational advisors or psychologists -- already glaring before the pandemic -- has worsened.

These concerns are being raised as both parties prepare to negotiate the renewal of collective agreements.

The CSQ and its federations are demanding that the government improve their members' working conditions and salaries to create real attractiveness and retention of personnel.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 15, 2022.