Nova Scotia looks to poach teachers from Ontario as province plans layoffs

Ontario's teacher loss could be Nova Scotia's gain.

Education Minister Zach Churchill said his department plans to put on a hiring push for teachers in Ontario in light of news about pending cuts to the profession in that province.

CBC reported earlier this month on a provincial memo that lays out a plan for the Ontario government to cut thousands of teaching jobs in the next three years to save money.

Churchill said provinces, including Nova Scotia, are always looking beyond their borders to hire, but news of what's happening in Ontario heightens the effort.

"We enjoy poaching good people from one another and that's great to have a kind of a competitive process like that in our country, but we think there might be some specific opportunities for recruitment out of Ontario right now considering what's happening," he told reporters at Province House.

Teacher crunch puts pressure on substitutes

The minister said there was already a plan to hire more people, with "a big chunk" of the $30-million budget increase for his department earmarked for hiring. The government has created 1,000 teaching spaces since 2013-14.

"We're in a period of major investment in bringing in teaching and non-teaching supports and we think that it's a great time for people in other jurisdictions to consider coming here to teach."

The province is experiencing pressures on the ranks of substitute teachers as well as a need for math and French teachers, something Churchill said most provinces are dealing with right now.

Hiring efforts will include direct marketing, advertising and social media campaigns, career fairs and reaching out to education program graduates to let them know about openings and opportunities, the education minister said.