UPDATE: Here’s the Latest on the Education Worker Strike in Ontario

Ontario | Latest News |

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Published October 6, 2019 at 1:59 pm

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It’s been a few days since the The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) announced its plans to strike this week, and if the province doesn’t come to an agreement with the union, that strike will soon become a reality.

CUPE, which represents education workers, has noted its intent to launch a full-fledged walkout that is scheduled to begin tomorrow on Monday, October 7.

This is, “In the face of mounting evidence that school boards are using education workers’ work-to-rule job action as an excuse to cut programs, services and staffing in Ontario schools,” according to an official CUPE statement.

As an agreement has yet to be reached and the deadline looms closer, cities and school boards have issued statements on what residents should expect during a strike.

In Peel, the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board (DPCDSB) has stated that all DPCDSB schools will be closed to students beginning Monday, October 7 if a settlement is not reached.

As of Oct. 7, 2019, the Peel District School Board (PDSB) will also cancel classes, and the following programs will also be cancelled/closed until further notice:

  • all evening and weekend permits
  • International Languages program
  • school field trips and extracurricular activities – refunds won’t be processed until after the strike
  • before-/after-school programs, and childcare programs operated on school property
  • EarlyON and Child and Family Learning Centres
  • Night School
  • Adult Credit, Non-Credit, ESL, and Literacy and Basic Skills programs
  • all Co-op placements, including those taking place off school property
  • Dual Credit program–students should not go to their college classes
  • high school information nights that are scheduled for the week of Oct. 7
  • eLearning courses are currently under review. Students in eLearning will be communicated with directly when a decision has been made.

Additionally, the city of Mississauga has released a list of city facilities will be impacted by the strike, and Brampton will offer full-day camps at certain facilities if schools close down.

In Hamilton, schools will remain open on Monday in the event of a strike, according to a letter to families from Hamilton-Wentworth District Schoolboard (HWDSB) sent out on Thursday.

However, the following programs will be cancelled:

  • EarlyON Child and Family Centres
  • All licenced before- and after-school programs
  • All authorized recreation programs
  • All rental permits on any board property, board meetings, school council and Home & School Association meetings, professional learning, training and athletics, from October 5 to 20 inclusive
  • All extra-curricular activities in HWDSB will be cancelled until further notice

The Halton District School Board will keep schools open. However, all night school credit classes and the International & Indigenous Language Elementary Program (IILE) will be cancelled until further notice. The school board will also not be accepting new Community Use rental requests and all existing permits will be cancelled, effective October 7.

At this time, Premier Doug Ford has not issued a statement on the possible strike.

UPDATE (8:50 p.m.): Talks are still ongoing at this time and a deal has not yet been reached.

UPDATE: Education Strike Called Off After Agreement Reached

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