Council special meeting summary

A special meeting of College Council took place July 19, to consider amendments to three regulations made under the Ontario College of Teachers Act.

Council also considered a draft 2024-2028 Strategic Plan during an in-camera session, with final approval to take place at the October 5 meeting of Council.

New teaching certificate helps address teacher shortage

To help address Ontario’s teacher shortage, College Council approved the creation of a new Transitional Certificate that will allow teacher candidates at faculties of education to teach before they graduate.

The certificate, to be in place by August 30, 2023, will allow students enrolled in initial teacher education programs in Ontario to work in publicly funded schools as occasional/supply teachers while completing their studies.

Individuals who hold a Transitional Certificate are subject to the same benefits and obligations as any other member of the College, including the complaints and discipline process.

Following the launch of the new certificate, the existing Transitional Certificate, which is only available to teacher candidates in multi-session teacher education programs, will be known as the Multi-Session Transitional Certificate. This change will not impact members who currently hold a Transitional Certificate. Their eligibility to teach will remain unchanged as long as they keep their College membership in good standing.

Help govern your profession

We are looking for members of the public and Ontario Certified Teachers to make a difference in education and student well-being by helping to govern the teaching profession.

There are roles available on different arms of governance, including Council, Committees and Rosters.

Governance members will be nominated based on specified selection and eligibility criteria needed to do the job and reflective of diverse geographic, linguistic, and Indigenous perspectives of Ontario.

Profile: Bilingual Council member Elaine Lajeunesse

Elaine Lajeunesse is a bilingual senior executive with broad expertise in operational efficiency and risk management. She is the founder of Eldal Executive Coaching.

She serves on the College’s Council, on the Human Resources Subcommittee and on the Selection and Nominating Subcommittee.

With more than 30 years of experience, Elaine has held numerous roles in various financial institutions, across many jurisdictions and through times of significant change and transition, most recently serving as senior vice-president and chief risk officer at TD Financial Group.

She has served on various boards for Athos Risk, TD Insurance, TD Reinsurance (Barbados) Inc. and OASIS Centre des femmes.

The College’s 2022 Annual Report now available

The Ontario College of Teachers’ 2022 Annual Report is now available for members of the profession and applicants to explore.

The report is an illustration of the College’s activities for the year, including the number of new teacher certifications, the most popular Additional Qualification courses, and where Ontario’s new internationally educated teachers were initially trained.

An archive of previous annual reports is available on our website.

Want to learn more about advancing your teaching skills or becoming qualified in another division?

The College’s search tool Find an AQ, available for members at oct.ca, will help you find additional qualification courses that suit your ongoing professional development goals.

Meet our 2022 scholarship recipients

Meet Shawn Dhaliwal, Grace Rajballie, Kaitlyn Heasman and Josée Lamoureux.

Each received $1,500 toward their program of initial teacher education as an acknowledgement that they are exemplary role models to their peers while demonstrating consistent dedication to the highest ideals of teaching.

Now accepting 2023 scholarship applications!

The Ontario College of Teachers Scholarship program recognizes and supports excellence in teacher education by providing annual scholarships to help fund the education of future teachers.

Do you know an outstanding teacher candidate in Ontario? Encourage them to apply for a 2023 scholarship. Information about eligibility and how to apply is available on the College website.

Applications are accepted until August 31, 2023.

Library services

The Margaret Wilson Library has the hottest new resources and old favourites to get ready for the new school year. For more information, check out our newly updated Book Lists. To access:

1. Log into your College member account on oct.ca under Members.
2. On the left-side navigation channel, click Library.
3. On the right navigation channel of the library page, click on a list to browse under Book Lists.

Place holds on books, and we’ll ship them to you – free of charge. You can also borrow and download eBooks for offline reading.

Need library support? Consult the library’s FAQs or contact us, toll-free (Canada and U.S.A.): 1.833.966.5588 or library@oct.ca.