VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The hiring frenzy continues for the Vancouver School Board (VSB), which has added another 600 teachers in the past year but is still is desperate need of more, especially for French Immersion programs.

So the VSB’s recruitment team is adding some new perks to their recruitment efforts during an education career fair in Toronto.

“I think a lot of families are seeing the benefit for their children to be bilingual… so it’s been growing in popularity over the last number of years, and I guess it was just exacerbated by the fact that we have these smaller class sizes,” explains Adrian Keough, a director of instruction with the district.

A landmark 2016 Supreme Court of Canada ruling restored smaller class sizes after the previous Liberal government stripped those bargaining rights from teachers’ contracts in 2002. School districts across BC have been scrambling to hire teachers ever since.

Ironically, the hiring frenzy has made teacher shortages even worse in Vancouver, where resignations have more than doubled as employees use the opportunity to land jobs closer to where they live.

Adding to an out-of-province recruitment pitch that includes mountain vistas and a west coast lifestyle, the VSB is also now offering a $1,500 moving allowance for full-time hires.

“In addition, the staff are helping new arrivals in Vancouver to find some temporary housing for the beginning weeks while they get settled and find rental accommodations,” Keough adds.

A few dozen French Immersion teachers have been hired in Vancouver over the past year, but Keough says 24 more are needed for the upcoming school year.

VSB recruiters will be at Toronto’s Westin Harbour Castle Convention Centre for a one day education career fair on April 20.