Your experiences matter: The 2025 Focus on Teaching survey is available now

The College invites Ontario Certified Teachers (OCTs) in good standing to complete the 2025 Focus on Teaching survey.

How to access the survey

The week of August 18th, a personalized survey link was sent to all OCTs in good standing by our research partner, Forum Research Inc. The link was sent by email and text message to the address and phone number the College has on file.

Please note that the email may be flagged by your email provider as spam or junk because it was sent to you by a third party. We can assure you that the link is safe to click.

Focus group contributions

Thank you to the OCTs who contributed to refining the survey through focus groups. Your feedback informed the development of survey questions that are relevant to current realities and key concerns within the teaching profession.

Here is some of what was shared with us:

“If teachers are being asked to engage in the survey, it’s essential that it reflects their real concerns and priorities. I appreciated the opportunity to contribute to that process and to engage in thoughtful dialogue with educators from across the province, collectively representing both elementary and secondary panels, and a range of school boards.”

Focus Group Participant

With a response rate of 17 per cent on the 2024 Focus on Teaching survey, we were able to conduct an in-depth analytical review of the aggregated anonymized results. Our review included intersecting responses to various questions, which facilitated a richer exploration of the data. We aim to repeat this analytical approach in 2025. This will enable us to track and report trends, providing additional valuable data for decision-makers.

We sincerely thank all OCTs who have already completed the 2025 survey. If you haven’t yet participated, we encourage you to share your voice by completing the survey today.

Explore the new appendix of case studies to accompany the Professional Advisory Addressing Hate and Discrimination

In June, the Ontario College of Teachers issued its Professional Advisory Addressing Hate and Discrimination. To further support the efforts of OCTs to foster safe, equitable, inclusive, and accessible learning environments for all students, the College has published an appendix of case studies.

Based on real life examples, the case studies are designed to help OCTs work through and appropriately address acts of hate and discrimination. The College has also published an accompanying Facilitator’s Guide and presentation slides to help school boards, schools, faculties of education and other education partners engage OCTs in this important work.

The Professional Advisory Addressing Hate and Discrimination is available online at oct.ca in HTML, PDF and audio formats and includes:

• practical advice for OCTs
• a self-reflective framework
• key elements to examine and address
• guidance for ongoing learning

Update: Professional Standards review

In the June edition of Your College and You, the College invited OCTs to express their interest in participating in a summer writing session to contribute to the Professional Standards review.

We received more than 250 responses, and this month, a team of 24 OCTs spent two days at the College engaging, collaborating and designing content to support the development of refreshed professional standards. The team included representation from across the province, with OCTs from English, French, Public, and Catholic school systems, as well as First Nation schools and Provincial School Authorities.

The writing session provided an opportunity for OCTs to contribute their professional experiences to the development of new standards, while also describing how the standards are connected to an educator’s day-to-day life inside and outside the classroom. Participants said:

“This session deepened my understanding that the Professional Standards are living principles that guide daily practice, uphold public trust, and ensure accountability.”

“This experience gave me a renewed sense of stamina and purpose, preparing me to return to school in September with greater energy and commitment to making a meaningful impact on the whole well-being of students.”

Thank you to all OCTs who contributed their thoughts and expertise to the writing session. We will share more about the outcome of this work later this year.

How do I check my application status?

As an applicant, you can log into your online account at any time to check the progress of your application. Your document status page will let you know what additional documents are required after we have processed your application and the applicable fees.

Save the date! 2025 Annual Meeting of Members is on October 14

Join College leadership for our Annual Meeting of Members on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The online meeting is open to OCTs, applicants, interested education partners, and members of the public. Registrar and CEO Linda Lacroix, OCT/EAO, and Acting Chair of Council Tammy Webster, OCT, will provide updates on how the College works within its mandate to protect the safety and well-being of Ontario students.

The meeting will be hosted on Zoom with simultaneous French and English interpretation and optional closed captioning. The meeting will conclude with a Q&A session. Details on how to register and submit questions in advance will be available on our website soon.

The best of back-to-school reading

OCTs, get excited for the new school year by checking out our teacher-curated back-to-school reading list at the Margaret Wilson Library. Kick off the year by discovering your next read on the latest trends in leadership approaches, the classroom environment, memory and learning and artificial intelligence!

Plus, did you know that the library offers a free shipping service for OCTs? Place a hold and we will ship it to you — free of charge.

1. Log into your College account on oct.ca under Members.
2. On the left navigation pane, click Library.
3. On the right navigation pane of the library page, click on Back-to-school reading list.

Explore our FAQs to learn tips and tricks to navigate the Margaret Wilson Library’s online services.

Still have questions? Contact the library team at library@oct.ca or 1.833.966.5588.