It is day one of a strike by Alberta’s 51,000 teachers.
The job action by the members of the Alberta Teachers Association is affecting 700,000 students across 2,500 public, separate and francophone schools in the province.
Most school boards — including those in Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray and Lethbridge — sent notices home to parents last week telling them that barring an 11th-hour deal, classes would be paused beginning Monday.
Both sides appeared far apart late last week but the union said Friday they had resumed “exploratory conversations.”
Teachers rejected the government’s latest offer in a vote late last month, which included a 12 per cent pay raise over four years, a government promise to hire 3,000 more teachers to address class sizes and money to cover the cost of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Alberta Teachers Association president Jason Schilling has said the province’s hiring offer is a drop in the bucket compared to what’s needed.
The ATA says the government needs to hire at least 5,000 more instructors to align with student-teacher ratios.
With files from Global News.