Quebec teacher shortage: 5,704 positions need to be filled, minister says [Video]

There are still 5,704 vacant teaching positions in Quebec with the new school year less than two weeks away, and Education Minister Bernard Drainville said Friday the gap is partly due to immigration.

He told reporters the school system faces a serious challenge to find enough teachers because there are about 20,000 more students enrolled than there were last year. About 80 per cent of them are newcomers to the province, he added.

Drainville said immigration “has a big impact on our school system.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has to “help us a bit,” he said, and the federal government should “get control of the immigration process to reduce temporary immigration in Quebec, particularly asylum seekers.”

According to Statistics Canada data published in June, there were 597,000 non-permanent residents in Quebec in the second quarter of 2024, including 190,000 asylum seekers. That’s up from 420,000 temporary residents a year earlier …