Article content

Help wanted. With two weeks left before the school year starts, hundreds of teaching positions are still vacant in more than 30 school districts across B.C.

About 171 full-time jobs still need to be filled by September in Vancouver, Surrey, Abbotsford, Osoyoos, Fort St. John, Prince George and other districts, according to Make a Future, the recruitment arm of the B.C. Public School Employers Association. The vacancies are highest in the north, where 48 positions are yet to be filled, followed by Metro Vancouver with 36.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or B.C. school districts in hiring crunch, face teachers shortage Back to video

Glen Hansman, president of the B.C. Teachers Federation, said the hiring crunch is a result of the Supreme Court of Canada decision last fall, which required districts to hire an additional 3,000 teachers in order to fulfil class-size and composition requirements.

“Because of all the new jobs created by the Supreme Court decision, the supply of teachers is less than what is needed by the job postings out there,” said Hansman.