The Saskatchewan government is pushing back against opposition claims that schools are facing staffing cuts, saying the numbers cited do not reflect the full picture of education staffing across the province. The Saskatchewan NDP points to the Ministry of Education’s 2025–26 Education Sector Staffing Profile, which they say, shows a net loss of 26 classroom teachers and 47 educational assistants compared to last year. The report also indicates enrollment growth, including nearly 1,000 more middle years students and nearly 1,000 additional secondary school students. NDP education critic Matt Love told a news conference Wednesday the data shows schools are being stretched beyond capacity. “We’re calling on this government to stop shortchanging our schools and to start investing in the future of every child, in every community across the Scotland. Our kids only get one shot at childhood, and we need to make sure that we get it right,” Love said. Parents Tanner Henry and Celine Carlson, whose nine-year-old daughter has autism and is non-verbal, say staffing challenges have gotten worse this year. “At the start of this year, it was probably one to three times a week that I was getting called to come and pick her up and bring her home, because they simply just can’t meet her needs,” Henry, told CTV News. These parents say the inadequate education their daughter is receiving is taking a toll. “They’re just kind of trying to deal with her, and that’s not fair to them and that’s not fair to her. We want her to thrive and because she doesn’t have those supports, she’s not thriving,” Carlson said. However, the Ministry of Education says the opposition’s focus on classroom teachers and educational assistants alone does not capture overall staffing levels or the range of supports available to students. “The 2025–26 staffing profile shows a provincewide enrollment increase of 19 students, along with an overall increase of 651.3 full-time equivalent (FTE) educators year-over-year. That figure includes staff hired by school divisions as well as the Saskatchewan Distance Learning Centre. Even when excluding classroom complexity teachers, the ministry says there was still a net increase of 157.3 FTE educators," the ministry said in a statement. The ministry also emphasizes that staffing decisions are made locally, and hiring doesn’t just include teachers in some cases which, may cause confusion. “Boards of education across Saskatchewan have the authority to hire staff who will deliver appropriate programs based on the needs of their students,” the statement said, noting those hires include counsellors, administrators, psychologists and speech-language pathologists in addition to classroom teachers. The government maintains it is prioritizing student success and flexibility for school divisions, while the opposition argues more direct classroom staffing is needed to keep pace with growing demands.
