The staff shortage is worsening in Quebec public schools, while the proportion of vacant positions is higher than at the same time last year. However, the situation is not about to improve, since school service centers are slowing down their recruitment efforts due to cutbacks, school principals report.
More than 5,000 positions for teachers, support staff and professionals are currently to be filled, which represents 3.4% of positions in the public school network, according to the latest figures available in the Dashboard of the Ministry of Education. Education, which date from January 8, 2025.
This is an increase compared to last year, when the proportion of vacant positions stood at 2.5% in January 2024.
The increase is felt in all job categories, but it is among professionals that the shortage hurts the most, with nearly 13% of positions currently vacant (see details below).
“We have seen it since the holiday season, we have had a lot of staff who are absent. The problem is getting worse, and we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel,” says Kathleen Legault, president of the Montreal Association of School Directors.
Recruitment efforts slowed due to cutbacks
The situation is likely to get worse in the coming weeks, since “several service centers said they were going to stop looking” to fill vacant positions due to the cuts imposed by Quebec since mid-December, reports Mme Legault.
“This is how they will succeed in cutting what the government is demanding,” she explains. If we haven’t found a psychologist since the start of the year, we’ll stop looking. It is still very discouraging and very worrying. It’s like we’re giving up.”
The recruitment of teachers would however not be targeted by this orientation, which mainly concerns support staff and professional staff, she specifies.
-The story is not more optimistic on the side of the Quebec Federation of Educational Institution Directors, where the shortage is the “number one priority” of the members, indicates its president, Nicolas Prévost.
“It will deteriorate further by the end of the year and for the next few years,” he says.
The salary increases granted to school staff in recent years have not succeeded in reversing the trend, since the task is still as heavy as ever, he deplores.
“It’s not getting better, because we’re not getting to the root of the problem,” adds Mr. Prévost.
The uncertainty regarding the budgetary situation beyond March 31 also weighs heavily on the shoulders of school staff, adds Mme Legault. “We manage short-sightedly. How can we plan and use public funds well when we have no idea of the budgetary environment six months from now?”
Vacancies in public schools
| Number (January 2024) | Proportion (January 2024) | Number (January 2025) | Proportion (January 2025) | |
| Teaching staff | 1094 | 1,2% | 1961 | 1,9% |
| Support staff | 1610 | 4,7% | 2314 | 5,6% |
| Professional staff | 460 | 10,9% | 814 | 12,8% |
| Total | 3164 | 2,5% | 5089 | 3,4% |
Source: Ministry of Education
