# Teaching qualifications from NZ recognised?



## rose_oc (Dec 7, 2011)

Hi everyone. 
I am wondering if New Zealand primary teaching qualifications are recognized in Canada (Edmonton, Alberta specifically). I also have Western Australian teaching registration. 
Also, any ideas of good places to look for work and best resources for living in Canada / Edmonton? My husband may have a job opportunity there but I'm not sure if I would have the automatic right to work if I accompany him as neither of us are Canadian - I am from NZ and he is French.
Also, as we are just tentatively exploring this opportunity, feel free to jump in with your experiences, opinions of teaching in Canada and/or living in Alberta. 
Thanks!
Rose


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

I'd suggest that you consult the Ministry of Education for the Province of Alberta for concise information as to what you need to do to get licensed as a teacher in Alberta. 

As for teaching in Edmonton, I'd have a look at the Edmonton Public School Board website for jobs. 

The end of the school year is nigh, as summer holiday for most school boards across Canada begins next month, so you should be able to find listings for posts to jobs available in September.

All of that said, you may not end up with a class of your own at first and may have to do substitute/supply teaching... my girlfriend moved from Vancouver to Calgary last September (her husband's company transferred her husband, so they all had to move) and found herself having to do substitute teaching once she was licensed in Alberta - she attended a hiring meeting mid-October and got her own class at the beginning of March.


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## rose_oc (Dec 7, 2011)

Thank you for those links and your reply! I actually wouldn't mind starting with substitute teaching as I have young kids so flexibility could be useful.


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

Keep in mind that Canada has far too many teachers already, with more graduating each year. It will be extremely difficult to find work as a teacher when there are already so many qualified Canadian teachers looking for work.


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## rose_oc (Dec 7, 2011)

Thanks for the heads up. That's a shame. Seems a bit irresponsible to keep enrolling high numbers of teaching students when there aren't the jobs for them. A similar situation to many parts of NZ too, sadly. 
I could do other work but thought I'd have best chances in my profession. Unless Canada wants to pay foreign stay-at-home-moms? 



colchar said:


> Keep in mind that Canada has far too many teachers already, with more graduating each year. It will be extremely difficult to find work as a teacher when there are already so many qualified Canadian teachers looking for work.


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

rose_oc said:


> Seems a bit irresponsible to keep enrolling high numbers of teaching students when there aren't the jobs for them.


You're preaching to the choir on that one. In Ontario the government's genius decision to help alleviate the situation was to make teacher's college a two year program rather than the one year program it had been. But all that did was create a dip in numbers for a year or two, and then they went right back up again.

Another big problem is that retired teachers keep working. They retire, collect their pensions, and then go back to work as supply teachers. Because of seniority, they get jobs. And schools love to hire them because, due to their experience, principals can assign them a class and forget about then whereas they would have to keep tabs on new teachers to make sure everything was fine. A close friend of mine's Dad is a retired principal and one of his friends kept hiring him for long term supply assignments because he knew that there was nothing he couldn't handle. By doing that they are obviously depriving new teachers of jobs, even as supply teachers, but the union doesn't care because it feels it is catering to its established members and those established members are too greedy to give up their high salaries (they get paid at the last rate they were earning before retirement) and just go off into retirement.




> Unless Canada wants to pay foreign stay-at-home-moms?



I don't think you would have recourse to public funds. Even if you did, your husband's salary would be taken into account thus making you ineligible.


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## rose_oc (Dec 7, 2011)

colchar said:


> I don't think you would have recourse to public funds. Even if you did, your husband's salary would be taken into account thus making you ineligible.


That part was a joke; my grinning face emoticon didn't get pasted right after comment as I expected! I certainly don't expect to move to a country and start claiming benefits.

As to the situation with teacher over-supply, I'm sorry to hear that new teachers may not even be able to find work as substitute teachers. That sounds like a rough deal. I hope they (universities/school boards/govt - whoever is responsible) will make some better policy decisions in the future to solve the issue.


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

rose_oc said:


> That part was a joke


Ah, didn't realize that.





> As to the situation with teacher over-supply, I'm sorry to hear that new teachers may not even be able to find work as substitute teachers. That sounds like a rough deal. I hope they (universities/school boards/govt - whoever is responsible) will make some better policy decisions in the future to solve the issue.



Government making good policy decisions? Not holding my breath on that one!


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## lizbth (May 6, 2016)

You may be qualified to work in other areas of education -- depending on the province -- such as curriculum development or resource planning if you can't find a teaching position. I know here in Southwestern Ontario it can be as long as a 5 year wait to get on the supply and 10 year wait list to get a full time job. Each province has its own requirements for teaching, and then depending on what school board you want to work in (public, French/Catholic, private schools) would have its own preferences. For example, my local French Catholic board will hire anyone who is fluent in French, so long as they take the one religious course required to teach in the Catholic board. Other regions will have different requirements that will ultimately decide if you get hired, regardless of your qualifications


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