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Territory competing with provinces for teachers

As of Sept. 5, 11 teaching positions were vacant in the NWT outside of Yellowknife. Dehcho Divisional Education Council superintendent Philippe Brulot says a surplus of jobs in British Columbia may be partly to blame.

“Staffing will always be an issue, especially in the small communities,” says Brulot. “We are dealing with it as best as we can and I think we are attending to all the needs.”

Brulot says Fort Providence is currently short two teachers, but he’s hopeful the positions will be filled soon.

A British Columbia supreme court ruling in 2016 set a new standard for class size and composition in the province that has necessitated the hiring of more than 1,000 new teachers.

While Brulot says it can be hard to draw teachers from the south up to remote Northern communities in quantity, the type of work available up here draws up higher quality educators.

“We have a unique setting,” he says. “It’s a place where you can make a difference.”

He says the people who come up are attracted by the collegial, progressive and passionate working environments.

“People aren’t necessarily going to places for the salaries,” he says. “People go to places and jobs because there is something special in that place.”

That said, according to the GNWT, the NWT’s salaries and benefits are among the highest in the country.

“As far as I’m aware, we have one of the highest if not the highest salary ranges in Canada,” says Andrea Giesbrecht, director of education operations and development for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, “but (in our advertising) we try not to make it all about that.”

She says the department tries to focus on the cultural experiences and potential for personal growth to be had for staff, especially from the south, who come up to our remote communities.

Giesbrecht also says the territory has professional development opportunities that are “a lot better than in a lot of the southern jurisdictions.”

She also cited the Bring It North program, in which GNWT employees can have up to $2,000 of their student loans knocked off after each 12 consecutive months lived in the NWT, up to $10,000 total.

Giesbrecht says the regional education councils, which do their own hiring, have been able to cover empty positions in a variety of ways when staffing is low.

“The education councils will move somebody around temporarily from another community. Sometimes they find a sub. Sometimes they combined some classes, which isn't ideal, but you know, they do whatever makes the most sense to make sure that the kids are receiving good instruction.”

Giesbrecht says the department plans to start advertising jobs at universities with teaching programs.

Brulot says the Dehcho council is planning to send representatives to jobs fairs to drum up interest and begin building a pool of candidates for when jobs open up in the future.