New data obtained from the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) shows a dramatic spike in the use of non-teachers filling in for teachers, according to a report by The Local.
The report by The Local found that the TDSB used emergency replacements almost 300 times a day in the last school year. Emergency replacements are often lunchroom supervisors, volunteer parents, or educators in training, not teachers or school staff.
The data obtained showed an 1100 per cent spike in the use of emergency replacement people since 2017 with 51,000 covering absent teachers in the 2024/2025 school year.
“It can be very de-stabilizing. You come home, your teacher hasn’t been there, and you’re not sure when they’re coming back,” said Katie Dupuis, a Toronto parent.
Dupuis tells CityNews her two elementary-aged kids brought up absent teachers almost every day last year.
“We’ve been hearing stories at dinnertime, around the table, about which teacher is missing, which class didn’t have a teacher, which substitute is filling in,” she shared.
The TDSB said, in a statement, emergency replacement people are a last resort to “ensure the necessary level of supervision and safety of students,” when teachers, occasional teachers and school staff are unavailable.
The non-teachers are screened, interviewed and have completed police checks. Those are the only requirements to substitute for a class.
“We have to make sure our students having access to qualified, educated professionals each and every day to ensure there are no learning gaps,” said Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) President Martha Hradowy.
OSSTF said the need doesn’t come from a lack of qualified teachers. They noted that there are currently more than 40,000 teachers in the province not working in the profession.
The absences are reportedly driven by workplace violence, illness and poor working conditions like large class sizes, according to the OSSTF.
“This is not right. my kids shouldn’t be in a classroom of 35 kids. There shouldn’t be mice eating through their lunchboxes … education is not a priority for the Ford government,” said Dupuis.
