The TDSB reportedly plans to cut 600 teaching positions
Toronto Today obtained a copy of the school board’s 2026-2027 staffing allocation plan
It was reported last week that the Toronto District School Board will eliminate the jobs of 40 vice-principals across its jurisdiction, starting when the next school year begins.
Ryan Bird, the TDSB’s executive officer, communications and public affairs, told CP24 that the cuts were due to the loss of one-time pandemic funding, as well as an overall decline in student enrolment. “Every spring, the TDSB goes through a process to determine how staff are placed in schools for the upcoming year. This planning helps ensure that every school has the staff required to support the needs of students,” he said.
Days after this news broke, Toronto Today has now reported that the TDSB plans to cut 484 elementary and 123 secondary teacher positions next year, too. This amounts to an elimination of over 600 teaching positions.
Toronto Today obtained a copy of the school board’s 2026-2027 staffing allocation plan. It indicates that 175 teachers working in low-income areas will lose their jobs, as well as 95 teachers who teach students using English as a second language.
Elementary Teachers of Toronto president Helen Victoros told the outlet that the planned cuts are “breathtaking in their depth.”
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In a media release sent by the NDP, MPPs Jessica Bell, who is the Official Opposition Shadow Minister for Finance and the Treasury Board, and Chandra Pasma, who is the Official Opposition Critic for Education, condemned the cuts.
“Like so many of Doug Ford and Paul Calandra’s cuts, these cuts are going to hurt the most vulnerable students the most. Instead of imposing school board takeovers that allow unqualified supervisors to make decisions in secret, behind closed doors, Doug Ford needs to properly fund education and restore locally accountable elected trustees,” their statement said.
The TDSB is one of eight Ontario school boards that have been taken over by the province, with Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra alleging financial mismanagement and infighting among school personnel.
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Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
