Alberta is experiencing a serious shortage of teachers and nurses. This crisis is obviously shocking given its effects on an education and healthcare system already on the brink in the province. Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, called these issues “existential threats” to the education system. He pointed out that Alberta still remains the most underfunded school jurisdiction in all of Canada. With an insufficient budget and increasing needs, educators and health-care providers are stretched thin.
The provincial government has recently announced an increase of 4.4 percent in the 2024-budget, designated for supporting students. This figure does not even come close. That’s a $3.9 billion, or 13.5 percent, increase just to reach the national average spending per student. As classrooms become overcrowded and education budgets continue to shrink, teachers are increasingly forced into compromising their standards in order to serve all of their students’ varying needs.
In November 2023, Alberta revealed a significant overhaul of Alberta Health Services (AHS), restructuring it into four distinct agencies: primary care, acute care, continuing care, and mental health and addiction. This transition coincided with the release of the 2024 provincial budget, which has drawn criticism from unions and healthcare professionals alike.
Education System Under Pressure
The state of the education system in Alberta before this year’s walkout has been exacerbated by a lack of qualified replacement teachers supplied by the government. According to Schilling, funding cuts have worsened already difficult conditions in the classroom.
“Alberta is the least funded school jurisdiction in all of Canada,” – Jason Schilling
He figured many other classrooms must be out of control. They don’t have the resources, both human and infrastructural, necessary to reach all students, and in particular students with special educational needs.
“We have students in our classrooms that are overcrowded. We have students in our classrooms who don’t have the resources that they need to meet their educational needs. We are not able to meet the demands of special-needs students,” – Jason Schilling
Schilling further expressed that his colleagues are leaving teaching positions due to overwhelming class sizes and insufficient resources, leading to burnout among educators.
“My colleagues are leaving their jobs at schools because of class sizes, pressures with resources, and feeling burnt out,” – Jason Schilling
In response to the ongoing crisis, Premier Danielle Smith requested the education minister to create a new teaching certificate intended to fast-track individuals into junior high and high school teaching roles. Yet, many educators are still excited and skeptical about whether this initiative will go far enough to truly prepare teachers for the challenges of today’s classrooms.
Healthcare Recruitment and Retention Challenges
Alberta’s healthcare system has long struggled with recruitment and retention, especially when it comes to nurses. It’s no wonder that for years, registered nurses in Alberta have been enduring wage rollbacks. Consequently, their before-tax wages have dropped to the lowest in Canada. Even with their recent increases, after-tax compensation is still not as competitive as adjacent provinces such as British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
Just ask nurses, who have taken to protesting workloads due to the unprecedented demands on a U.S. healthcare system operating at full capacity. AHS’s recent reorganization, often seen as a power play, has only added to the confusion and insecurity within the healthcare workforce. Observers have asked whether the government can adequately focus on fixing understaffing and funding shortages with such a tumultuous transition.
“That all of the issues with understaffing, with underfunding, with the chaos of this [AHS transition] is not real and that they actually have it the best that there is,” – Mike Parker
Parker’s comments speak to a larger fear that the federal government is out of touch with the growing burden healthcare workers will soon have to tackle. Too many nurses are left disillusioned as they try to practice in a system still not set up to appropriately value what they bring to the table.
Budgetary Implications and Future Outlook
The newly released 2024 provincial budget is being met with sharp criticism. It doesn’t do anything to help solve crises in education and healthcare. Education advocates say that the increase in funding for schools is still too little. More importantly, it doesn’t begin to address the fiscal holes that are affecting Alberta’s schools.
He admitted that some progress surrounds us today. It’s far short of what’s needed to combat teacher pay inequities throughout the state and help fix crumbling classroom conditions. The 2025 budget doesn’t seem to show any intention to address these basic programmatic issues.
“If you reduce the credentialing [needed] to become a teacher, those teachers won’t be prepared well enough to handle the complex pressures that are in our classrooms right now, and they’ll leave as well. So you end up creating a revolving door of teachers in and out of schools,” – Jason Schilling
Alberta is going through some very painful times. Educators and healthcare workers have been on the frontlines advocating for long-term solutions that ensure adequate pay, funding, and working conditions.
