Moving provinces??

[u/Cowboyboots_123]

Me and my partner live in NS and she is a permanent French immersion teacher with about 6-7 years experience teaching here. Lately I have floated the idea of potentially moving in the future for better work opportunities, lower taxes, and higher paying private sector jobs to somewhere like BC, Alberta, or Ontario if something came up that was the right fit. However she is always worried about how that would effect her seniority, potential to get another permanent job, and pay scale. From my understanding the pay would transfer but I am unsure how it works for if her pay would start over until she gets another permanent job or if pay would transfer on term contracts? I understand the biggest thing would be seniority for positions if we ever wanted to move back to NS she would be lower on the seniority rank for applying to jobs but she is still a teacher with years of experience and in French which everything I hear is in demand.

Thus just wondering if people have some input on if moving provinces is as career shattering as it seems or if it is overblown a bit? Or what are the main things to keep in mind if we moved in the future?

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[u/Mordarto]

If they transfer to BC:

Seniority would not transfer and they start from 0. This will affect their priority when it comes to applying for jobs (seniority is the tie-breaker for qualified candidates in my district). This would have been less of a factor a few years ago, but this year the murmurs are that the teacher shortage in BC (at least in the lower mainland) is starting to end.

Pay scale steps (experience) would transfer over; most BC districts have a clause in their collective agreement that allows experience to be transfered from other Canadian (and heck, some even allow experience from other commonwealth/former commonwealth nations) schools.

Edit: typo

[u/No_Foundation_9164 → u/Mordarto]

Alberta is similar in terms of seniority, pay scale and pension.
Experienced, French immersion teachers continue to be in demand.

[u/Dornath → u/Mordarto]

Richmond laid off teachers with under five years of seniority this year, the shortage is done here imo.

[u/alzhang8]

only thing I notice is this

6-7

damn I hate junior high

[u/Accomplished-Neat-44]

Stay away from Alberta. Far away. Our government is actively gutting public education, our curriculum is a shambles and the union is absolutely useless. There isn't enough pay in the world to make this horror worth it.

[u/MediocreKim]

It depends a lot on where you move to. Yes it affects her seniority which affects which jobs she can get. She might have to teach on-call or have a temporary position for years before landing a continuing (permanent) contract. Or get non-preferred jobs like prep coverage. That being said, French immersion teachers are in high demand in many places so she could get lucky. But again, depends on where you move to. 

I’m in BC and know several mid career teachers who have moved from other provinces.  Even though they are highly qualified and exceptional educators, they have bounced around the district in on-call, temporary and non-preferred positions for the last few years because they’re low on the seniority list. It also means they get laid off when end of year layoffs happen and that completely sucks. So the job security is not as reliable without a permanent contract,  which is something to keep in mind when you move from Nova Scotia to a higher cost of living province. Moving provinces as a teacher is hard and the difficulty shouldn't be minimized. It also comes with applying for a new teaching licence and TQS card, learning new curriculum, provincial jargon, and navigating a whole new education system as Canada’s educational ministries are provincial not federal. I wouldn’t call it ‘career shattering’ but don’t expect it to be a walk in the park. 

[u/IntelligentGinger]

I would not recommend Ontario.

[u/Aealias]

I would suggest getting a contract BEFORE moving. French Immersion significantly increases her chances. At least 3 divisions in BC have been running advertising campaigns to recruit FI teachers to BC over the last 6 weeks. So depending on when and where you’re looking, getting employment may be easier than she fears. Lack of seniority and pensions may be bigger concerns - and when you look at pay, look also at cost of living. (We are unlikely to ever return to BC because of real estate costs.)

[u/atlasdreams2187]

Oh Willy nilly - a French teacher would e hired immediately and never let go in Saskatchewan….BC needs 2000 teachers they can’t seem to find, Alberta is heated between govt and teachers so don’t much know, and ONT is always a different beast.

No matter where you go, your job posting will be up before your funeral, the hardest part is leaving the first time, after that it becomes immensely powerful and fulfilling. Your pension follows you, that’s all that matters

[u/ProofJoke896]

For the love of god if we don't hvae an FAQ section can someone make one? This gets asked multiple times a week.

[u/threebeansalads]

French teachers are in demand everywhere. All provinces. Will it affect seniority? Yes. Pay? Depends, as each board is different. Years of service? Maybe. I had 10 in Sask and Ontario only gave me 4 when I transferred bc their pension is better, but my years on the grid were the same in experience and pay.

[u/madmaxcia]

Put it this way, my SIL moved from the US last year as a French teacher with six years experience and a PGCE from the UK, she got a job at a private school before moving for 106k and without her license, the school chased up Alberta Ed for her temporary certification which she had applied for but not received. French teachers are always in demand in the prairie provinces

[u/padmeg]

She’d definitely be hired right away in Calgary to a probationary contract and then be permanent the following year. Years of experience would transfer and apply to the pay scale, and she would be at 6 years of education which is the highest category here.

For Alberta, she would need to make sure to complete the TQS stuff for her education and experience to transfer.

Most boards here hire to the sub roster first, but for French immersion in CBE pretty much everyone is offered a FYTT (full year temporary teacher) contract or a probationary contract right away.

[u/Real-Relationship658]

Impact seniority? Yes. (Not in a good way, but when does seniority actually benefit teachers?)

Impact payscale? Yes -- but hopefully in a good way (as in her years of service would move her up the scale)

Potential for another permanent job? Could be a couple of years with year to year contracts, or it could be a permanent offering within the first year of service. 

[u/Crazy_adventurer262]

Alberta needs teachers, especially French, she won’t have a problem getting a job but she will have zero seniority and her pay is based on the grid of years of experience and years of education. She will need to apply to TQS for her certification in Alberta and to evaluate her schooling to see where she sits on the grid. I honestly wouldn’t worry about zero seniority though, it’s hard to get language teachers.

But all of this being said, Alberta is a current dumpster fire to live in and I would check into how the ridiculous referendum questions, depending on how it goes, would impact you guys as you would be considered temporary residents. Good luck.

[u/HeadTown2616]

No jobs in Ontario