Registrar’s Message

“Building for the future” is a timely theme for this annual report. It pays tribute to teachers who lead children into a world of exciting learning experiences, and who are committed to helping students develop their minds, their capacity for self expression and their desire to be the best they can be.

Building for the future is what drives the College as we continue to make important progress on many issues that are significant to Ontario’s teaching profession.

Among our highlights in 2009 are our research on teacher supply, our work on teacher certification and qualifications, and our support to members throughout their careers.

For the eighth consecutive year, the College surveyed teachers in their first five years in the profession. The Transition to Teaching study presents an in-depth look at the early careers of teacher education grads of 2004 through 2008.

Our study, made possible by a grant from the Ministry of Education, is part of the College’s efforts to better understand the realities faced by our newest members.

Two stories emerged. Growing numbers of English-speaking teachers are underemployed while the market for French-language teachers is more robust.

The province’s English-language teacher employment market is highly competitive. There are now roughly 7,000 more certified, qualified teachers entering the profession each year than there are retirement spots to fill.

Ontario’s new teachers across the province are increasingly relying on occasional teaching assignments as their introduction to the teaching profession.

Many graduates of French-language teacher education programs and others who can teach French as a second language in English-language school boards continue to have better job prospects than anglophones.

The Ontario Labour Mobility Act, which became law in mid-December, is part of the commitment by governments across the country to create more opportunities for Canadians to seek employment in other provinces or territories.

Teachers certified in a Canadian jurisdiction are now entitled to certification in Ontario without a requirement for additional course work, experience or assessments.

The new legislation enables the College to certify teachers from other Canadian jurisdictions under the terms of the revised Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT).

Canadian premiers signed the revised AIT in January 2009, making it easier for certified professionals and tradespeople to move from one Canadian jurisdiction to another.

This will break down barriers to labour mobility for our members and for the teaching profession in Canada. It expedites certification in Ontario for teachers licensed in other Canadian jurisdictions.

The College membership reached 224,484 members in good standing in 2009, an increase of 5,319 members compared to 2008.

Ontario’s teachers are highly committed to ongoing professional learning. This commitment is demonstrated in the record numbers of College members taking College accredited Additional Qualification courses offered across the province.

Additional Basic Qualification and Additional Qualification (AQ) courses are part of a regulated system of continuing education. In 2009, the College accredited over 325 AQ courses submitted by 28 providers.

Feedback from members led to the creation of our new search engine Find an AQ that helps members who want to expand their subject knowledge or sharpen their classroom skills find the AQ and the provider that suit their needs.

The College will be moving to a new, permanent home in 2010.

At a special meeting in April, College Council approved the purchase of a majority interest – eight floors – in a building at 101 Bloor Street West – one block west of Bay – centrally located to provide easy access by public transit for members and staff, and in close proximity to stakeholders, government and education partners.

Improving the environmental footprint of the new building is a high priority for us. Energy efficiency is a key feature of the new building that dovetails with the College’s commitment to sustainable development.

The College is seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification – a green building rating system – for the new facility.

The renovation plans include making our new building smarter and greener while reducing energy/water consumption and operating costs.

The budget for 2009 College activities was set at $31,581,000 with an anticipated surplus of $333,000. The College recorded a slightly higher actual surplus of $963,000 which was added to the Reserve for Fee Stabilization to be used to moderate fees in 2010.

The College added five new employees in its Investigations and Hearings Department to address the volume of work in a timely manner.

The College made many improvements in its bilingual capacity over the past year in areas such as services to members, information technology and French-language publications. The College’s French-language services report highlights these achievements.

We continue to improve the French-language capacity of staff in various College departments and the francophone character of our French-language publications in order to reflect the distinct challenges and realities of the Franco-Ontarian education community.

The College’s fifth election in 2009 introduced a number of new faces to Council.

Alexander (Sandy) Bass of Lively was elected to represent Northeast Ontario – part-time/full-time; Carlo Cappello of Thunder Bay was elected to represent Northwest Ontario; Irene Dembek of Sudbury was elected to represent Northeast Ontario – full-time; Gale Dores of Summerstown was elected to represent Southeast Ontario part-time/full-time; Marc Dubois of Windsor was elected to represent the French-language Roman Catholic Secondary; Martha Dutrizac of London was elected to represent supervisory officers; Clint Lovell of Barrie was elected to represent the English-Language Public Board secondary; Darlene Mead of Sault Ste. Marie was elected to represent Northwest Ontario – part-time/full-time; Liz Papadopoulos of Toronto was elected to represent Central Ontario – full-time; Terry Price of Schomberg was elected to represent Central Ontario - part-time/full-time; Robert Ryan of Windsor was elected to represent Southwest Ontario – full-time; Mara Torcaso of Carp was elected to represent the English–language Roman Catholic Board elementary.

At their first meeting, Council members elected Liz Papadopoulos as their Chair and Ruth Ann Penny to serve as Vice-Chair.

Liz Papadopoulos is an elementary school teacher with the Toronto District School Board. She began teaching in 1991 and has taught students from kindergarten through Grade 8. She holds specialist qualifications in English as a Second Language and in Physical and Health Education.

Our Chair was re-elected to the Council this spring after a three-year hiatus. From 2000 to 2006 she was a College Council member and served as Investigation Committee Chair, Accreditation Appeal Committee Chair, Finance Committee vice-chair, Election Committee vice-chair and as an Executive Committee member.

She has been actively involved in teacher federation activities locally, provincially and nationally and was vice-president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario’s Toronto local for several years.

Our Vice-Chair, Ruth Ann Penny, is the independent schools representative on the College Council.

She has taught in both public and private schools across the province. She began as a kindergarten teacher, then went on to teach French and middle school gifted students in English-language schools, and languages and social sciences in French Immersion schools.

The faculty of education position on Council remains vacant following Peter Joong’s resignation from Council effective August 31, 2009. This position will be filled early in 2010.

The provincial government appointed Shabnum Budhwani of Toronto to replace Madhu Bhardwaj as a public representative on the College Council.

In June, Council appointed Joe Jamieson as Deputy Registrar of the College.

In his eight years with the College, Joe has provided invaluable leadership to three departments. He has held positions as Director of Investigations and Hearings, Director of Standards of Practice and Accreditation, Program Administrator – Professional Affairs, Program Administrator – Executive Department, and Manager of Intake and Hearings.

During the year, the College appointed Francine Dutrisac to the position of Director of Investigations and Hearings. She was the College’s Director of French-Language Services since August 2007. The College appointed Maryse Francella as Director of French-Language Services.

I would like to express my appreciation to members of the College’s Council and staff for their hard work. Their dedication to excellence is a source of inspiration and motivation for me and their example guides my own pursuit of excellence. I thank them for their guidance and support.