With two weeks to go before the start of the school year, more than 4,100 teaching positions remain unfilled in Quebec schools, although approximately 96 per cent of all positions have been filled. According to official figures from the Ministry of Education on Monday, 4,115 positions were still vacant, representing 4.4 per cent of the 92,820 teaching positions in the school system. The current situation is an improvement over the last two years, Education Minister Bernard Drainville told reporters at the National Assembly on Thursday. “Two years ago, there were 8,500 positions to be filled,” he said. “Last year, there were 6,000. Now, there are 4,000. Two years ago, we were at 90 per cent, 94 per cent [last year] and today, we are at 96 per cent of positions filled.” According to Drainville, this progress reflects the government’s achievement with the unions in ensuring that most teachers are assigned by Aug. 8 of each year. “The goal ... was precisely to improve the situation year after year, to start recruiting earlier and then assign teachers to their classes, and it’s working,” said the minister, while acknowledging that the situation remains imperfect. The figures for Monday were published on the ministry’s website on Thursday, shortly after the minister’s press conference. He also indicated that, among the teachers hired, 10 per cent did not have a teaching certificate, but that at least half of them had a Bachelor’s degree in one of the subjects taught at the school, such as French, English, history, or chemistry. He did not specify the situation for the other half of those without a teaching certificate. “What we want is to help them obtain their teaching certificate. That’s why we asked universities to create short, 30-credit training programs to enable teachers to obtain their teaching certification,” Drainville said. With regard to support staff, such as special education technicians and professionals such as speech therapists and remedial teachers, the number of vacancies remains unknown at this time. Drainville assured that recruitment is continuing and that the figures will be released at the end of August. The minister also expects a larger number of students to enroll in September, pointing in particular to the increase in asylum applications at the Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle border crossing. However, he was unable to speculate on the extent of this future increase. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 14, 2025. By Frédéric Lacroix-Couture, The Canadian Press
