Ontario teacher, education worker unions call for contract talks to start early

TORONTO — Contracts for Ontario’s teachers and education workers expire at the end of this summer and their union leaders are calling on the education minister to start the bargaining process early.

The union presidents say in a joint statement today that they want to start negotiations early as a way to ensure stability in classrooms and boost student success.

The last round of education bargaining was lengthy and included a strike by education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, closing schools for two days.

The unions say they want Education Minister Paul Calandra to use his authority to issue a regulation allowing negotiations to start up to 180 days before the current collective agreements expire on Aug. 31, which means the process could start as early as this week.

But Calandra’s office says filing for notice to bargain 90 days before contract expiry, as is set out in the Labour Relations Act, would provide enough time to get a fair and reasonable agreement.

The unions say in the next contract talks they hope to see smaller class sizes, measures to improve recruitment and retention, and increase resources for students, teachers and education workers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2026.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press