UK teacher seeking advice on a teaching post in Quebec

[PercivalJ]

Hi,

I can see that queries similar to mine get really good responses on this website so any advice that can be offered is much appreciated.

Can anyone tell me what the chances are of me being able to gain a teaching post in Quebec? - I understand that I would need an exemption by the education ministry to teach with my qualifications and for a school to sponsor my visa application and for the school to possibly overlook the fact that I'm not a modern foreign languages trained teacher but am I being realistic in finding work and is Quebec truly short of English teachers? Any advice on seeking out an employer?


JP

[DTHOMAS]

Hello PJ:

I am a high school teacher in the utopic suburbs of Montreal, Quebec. I have taught in Quebec schools for 11 years - and coincidentally, I completed my teacher training in the UK. I may know a little about the answers to your queries.

Firstly, from you post it appears you are an English teacher (subject) with a secondary in s.s. ? If my assumption is incorrect, then please let me know - otherwise, consider what I tell you here legitimate to your situation.

Currently, there is a shortage of subject-specialist teachers in the secondary (high school) system in Quebec (and many parts of Canada - or most of the world, as a matter of fact). Your chances of landing a job are very good - providing you are relatively flexible and willing to work hard. The main shortage subjects in all Quebec high schools are the sciences (bio/chem/physics), math, French, French language social studies, et. al. A second thing that may work to your advantage is there is little or no competition from teachers from other Canadian provinces seeking jobs in Quebec; Quebec is not a desirous destination for non-French speaking Canadians as they basically can not adapt to Quebec culture, let alone the French language (tens of thousands of anglo-Quebecers fled the province every year between 1976-1996). Unfortunately, the majority of non-Quebec Canadians are quite openly bigoted towards French Quebecers because of the cultural and language differences. It never ceases to amaze me how prejudiced and ignorant my fellow Canadians are in regard to the province of Quebec and of its culture (sorry; I just couldn't let that editorial moment dissolve).

The Ministry of Education (MELS) for the province of Quebec allocates funds to language based (non-denominational) school boards and stipends (free $) to private schools (independents). The school boards administer regions - these regions contain numbers of elementary and secondary schools. The most populated region is in on the island of Montreal (more than 1/2 of Quebec's population of 7 million is found within 30 km of Montreal). The greatest demand for teachers, overall, is in the remote regions (such as the arctic and tundra regions). Many mid-sized towns also have large shortages of teachers. You have equal chances of employment in all schools - regardless of their linguistic affiliation (English or French school boards). However, where you decide to live in QC will definately affect you chances of employment. One side-note of possible interest that could determine you choice of school/school board selection: 98% of all new child-immigrants enroll in the French school system - this is the law in Quebec (ergo, there are practically zero immigrant children in the English school system - therefore no TESL, and unrelatedly, very few immigrants outside of Montreal).

As far as the QT exemption issue - well, it's a non-issue. You can easily get a Quebec teacher status (called a brevet d'enseignement) within 1-3 years of working (you get it by applying due process - and by taking an equivalence course at a recognised QC university). There is a great deal of bureaucratic red tape in Quebec - its all for show and basically harmless (yet it causes much undue stress to many!).

In landing an actual job - well, that's going to depend on your tenacity and whether you are in the right place at the right time; like so many Canadian job ops, it boils down to who you know and presence. The school board I work for starts hiring and placing new teachers for the 2008-09 school year usually in April. Other school boards may do this at a later date - but this would need to be verified with each SB. Some schools are responsible for their own staff hiring - it all depends (on factors I'm not clear about). Schools are constantly hiring and re-hiring during the year; the school for which I work hired/ replaced eight French teachers in an six-month period of time - only two of these were qualified teachers (the rest all had undergraduate diplomas in various subjects and were not trained teachers - that's how bad the shortage is in some regions).

Some useful links include(add full-stops between spaces):
www qesba qc ca/
www fcsq qc ca/ (en francais seulement)
www mels gouv qc ca/

I think some of what I've said is useful; reply if you want further info, and above all good luck.

[PercivalJ]

Thanks DThomas for the detailed reply, I've found it very useful to read, it's certainly made me more optimistic about my chances of finding a teaching job. I would like to get back to you with maybe one or two more queiries at a later date, I'm in Quebec over Easter so it may be in a couple of weeks. Best regards,
JP