TORONTO — School is back: students will return to classrooms tomorrow, but for Ontario teachers, the new school year begins without a new contract, with negotiations still at an impasse and the risk of strikes.
It is against this backdrop that Toronto is celebrating Labour Day today with the traditional Labour Day Parade, which also includes numerous organizations from the education sector. Their presence is far from marginal: among the participating delegations are the Elementary Teachers of Toronto (ETT), ETFO occasional teachers, OECTA Toronto & York Regions and OSSTF District 12 Toronto.
The parade is not an event organized exclusively by teachers. It is Toronto’s major annual gathering of the labour movement, organized by the Toronto & York Region Labour Council and bringing together workers and unions from a wide range of sectors. For teachers, however, it comes at a particularly significant moment.
The collective agreements covering Ontario’s major education unions expired on August 31, just ahead of the new school year. The dispute is not limited to wages and working conditions. One of the key issues at the moment is determining which matters should be negotiated directly with the province and which should instead be left to individual school boards.
Some unions have brought the issue before the Ontario Labour Relations Board, asking the provincial body to determine the scope of bargaining. The situation is keeping tensions high, although for now it does not mean that schools are necessarily heading toward a strike. OECTA president René Jansen in de Wal told CTV OECTA president René Jansen in de Wal told CTV News Toronto that OECTA would have to go through a number of steps before job action could occur. “Even if we go to a strike vote, a strike vote is not a strike,” he said. “Ninety-eight per cent of labour disputes get settled without a strike, even though many of them have a strike vote.”
Alongside the broader labour mobilization, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) has also launched its own campaign.
Called “Know More,” the campaign shines a spotlight on the state of Ontario’s schools, education funding and the challenges teachers and students face every day. The campaign also reached the heart of the city on September 2, when OECTA took its message to Union Station, speaking directly to commuters and members of the public. The message is clear: according to the union, years of underfunding have taken a toll on classrooms.
“Kids and our future need to be an investment,” OECTA president René Jansen in de Wal said, calling for students to be given the resources they need to reach their full potential. The union’s concerns include overcrowded classrooms, a shortage of educational assistants and specialized staff, special education, mental health services and the condition of school buildings. “The safety of a child in a school shouldn’t be a bargaining issue,” he said. “The fact that kids deserve to have a decent-sized class and the supports they need shouldn’t be a bargaining issue. But we will fight for those.”
The OECTA president points to what he describes as the tangible consequences of cuts and funding challenges.
“The impacts of the $6.5 billion in cuts… are hurting kids,” he said, citing a lack of mental health supports, staffing and even basic classroom supplies such as tissue paper in classes.
The Province, however, offers a different picture. The Ontario government says it has significantly increased funding for education and has allocated $30.6 billion in core education funding for the 2026-27 school year, describing it as a historic level of investment. Among the measures introduced is a $750 Classroom Supplies Fund for elementary school teachers to purchase classroom materials. The Province — which in recent months has also appointed supervisors to oversee some school boards deemed to be poorly managed — says it has introduced new measures aimed at improving student achievement and creating more consistent learning experiences.
The contrast, in short, is stark, and the battle is only beginning: the 2026-27 school year is shaping up to be a heated one.
In the photo above, some teachers at the Labor Day Parade today (photo: Twitter X – @OECTAProv)
