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Nunavut Education Minister David Akeeagok said he isn’t worried about the number of unqualified teachers in classrooms, even though it has almost doubled in five years.
“We’re not concerned,” he said. “There’s over 800 [teachers], and 93 is a small number of the percentage, and it’s reflective of the need for us to make sure the school operates.”
Those 93 teachers work under what are called “letters of authority.” These are issued for one-year terms by the Department of Education when a position can’t be filled by a qualified teacher with a bachelor’s degree in education or equivalent.
The number of teachers in Nunavut with letters of authority has steadily increased each year for the past five years, nearly doubling.
In 2021-22, there were more than 50 unqualified teachers. Now, that’s up to 93 for 2025-26.
Nunavut Teachers’ Association president Justin Matchett disagrees with Akeeagok’s assessment of the issue. He said the increase is a problem.
“That’s 10 per cent of our membership [that] is unqualified. So it is a concern of ours,” he said. “We rely heavily on these unqualified teachers, on the letter of authority teachers. We can’t operate the schools without them.”
Akeeagok attributes the steady increase to the teacher shortage across the country.
He said Nunavut Arctic College’s education program has been training many local teachers in communities. Some teachers who formerly worked under letters of authority are now getting certified, he said.
“We want to attract as many local teachers as we can,” he said. “We’re looking forward to those graduates to become teachers in their communities.”
In Nunavut, nearly twice as many classes are being taught by teachers without formal teaching qualifications, compared with five years ago. Nunavut’s education minister says the numbers are not a major concern, but the teachers’ union disagrees. Bianca McKeown breaks down the numbers.
Teachers’ union concerned about increase
Matchett argues the shortage of qualified teachers has been going on too long.
“When I first started, a letter of authority was usually held for our language specialist,” he said. “Now the letter of authority is definitely used a lot more due to the teaching shortage and it’s covering everything from classroom teachers to the language specialist.”
Ultimately, Matchett said, this is about the children and the quality of education they are getting.
“As a parent, if I know that one Grade 3 [classroom] that my daughter is in has an unqualified teacher and the other class has a qualified teacher, I’d be concerned about the level of education,” he said.
Across Canada, Matchett said, there are just not enough students in education programs to fill the number of vacancies that are opening every year. (Cameron Lane/CBC)
The Department of Education does offer orientation and professional development training for letter of authority teachers. Akeeagok said right now these teachers are undergoing training sessions, with another one planned for the new year.
“Our department is very committed in ensuring that we get qualified teachers. When that doesn’t happen, we need to resort to letters of authority,” Akeeagok said.
Matchett said he’s aware and happy that letter of authority teachers get professional development opportunities, but the teachers’ union isn’t involved in what is being taught or what the content is.
With Nunavut slowly rolling out a new curriculum, he stressed the importance of ensuring teachers — qualified or unqualified — are trained consistently year after year.
“Somebody could be in a letter of authority position right now, receiving that training on the new curriculum, and then not be back next year,” he said. “Who’s going to train that new teacher on the curriculum? So it’s just that cycle, right?”
In Nunavut, Matchett said there’s a teacher retention problem, with many educators leaving the profession. But he said filling the gaps with unqualified teachers is not a long-term solution.
“What’s the ultimate goal here? We can’t keep relying on them and it’s not a fail safe,” he said.
