Qualifications for teaching in Ontario

Find information about the qualifications and requirements you need to teach in Ontario’s public funded schools, whether you are currently an Ontario certified teacher or are thinking about becoming a teacher.

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Ontario teaching certification

To teach in a publicly funded school, you must be certified by the Ontario College of Teachers.

To be certified, in most cases, you need:

• an undergraduate degree for general education
• an acceptable certificate (including certificate of apprenticeship), diploma or advanced diploma and work experience for technological education
• a completed initial teacher education program

There are some other requirements for certification, such as proof of language proficiency. Learn about the requirements to be certified by the Ontario College of Teachers.

Ontario College of Teachers

The Ontario College of Teachers, governs and enforces the standards of practice for the teaching profession.

• issues teaching certificates / licenses teachers
• sets and enforces the standards of practice and conduct for teachers
• provides for the ongoing education of teachers
• investigates and hears complaints against teachers
• accredits teacher education programs and additional qualifications programs

Teachers in publicly funded schools must be members in good standing with the College. Many private schools also require their teachers to be College members.

Find a teaching job

All hiring is done by publicly funded school boards, the provincial school authority, demonstration schools or private schools.

There are 72 school boards in Ontario, including 60 English-language school boards and 12 French-language school boards.

Professional development and additional qualification programs

Teachers who hold an Ontario teaching certificate can complete in-service professional development programs that lead to additional qualifications recognized by the Ontario College of Teachers.

These in-service programs are offered by faculties of education, and other organizations, in a number of formats:

• one-session programs
• three-session specialist programs
• one-session honour specialist programs

The Ontario College of Teachers can grant equivalent standing for some qualifications if a teacher has completed comparable course work at a faculty of education outside Ontario or as part of a graduate program in education.

Internationally educated teachers

If you wish to be certified to teach in Ontario and you completed a teacher education program outside of Canada, the Ontario College of Teachers provides information that will help you with your application.

Language proficiency test

The Ontario College of Teachers has information about the language proficiency test.

Universities that offer a Bachelor of Education program

Review the list of faculties of education that offer a Bachelor of Education program. Programs include four semesters and a minimum of 80 days of practice teaching.

Apply using the Teacher Education Application Service

To apply to a faculty of education, you must use the Teacher Education Application Service ( TEAS ). This is a non-profit centralized application service.

Faculties of education

Brock University

Faculty of Education
500 Glenridge Avenue
St. Catharines, Ontario
L2S 3A1

Lakehead University

Faculty of Education
955 Oliver Road
Thunder Bay, Ontario
P7B 5E1

Laurentian University

Faculty of Education
935 Ramsey Lake Road
Sudbury, Ontario
P3E 2C6

Nipissing University

Faculty of Education
100 College Drive
Box 5002
North Bay, Ontario
P1B 8L7

Queen's University

Faculty of Education
Duncan McArthur Hall
Kingston, Ontario
K7L 3N6

Trent University

School of Education and Professional Learning
Consecutive Bachelor of Education
Teacher Education Program
1600 West Bank Drive
Peterborough, Ontario
K9J 7B8

Ontario Tech University (University of Ontario Institute of Technology)

Faculty of Education
11 Simcoe Street North, P.O. Box 385
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 7K4

University of Ottawa

Faculty of Education
145 Jean-Jacques Lussier
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 6N5

University of Toronto

The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
252 Bloor Street West
Toronto Ontario
M5S 1V6

University of Western Ontario

Faculty of Education
1137 Western Road
London, Ontario
N6G 1G7

University of Windsor

Faculty of Education
401 Sunset Avenue
Windsor, Ontario
N9B 3P4

York University

Faculty of Education
4700 Keele Street
North York, Ontario
M3J 1P3

Wilfrid Laurier University

Faculty of Education
Dean's Office: 3 rd Floor, Bricker
75 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario
N2L 3C5

Resources

• Become a principal - Learn about becoming a principal in a publicly-funded school in Ontario.
• Ontario’s French Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy - Learn about our plan to attract and retain more French teachers in Ontario schools.
• Teacher assignment in Ontario schools - This guide will give you a basic understanding of the rules for assigning teachers to teach subjects or hold positions in Ontario’s publicly funded schools.
• Teacher Performance Appraisal System - Learn how new and experienced teachers are appraised in publicly funded schools.
• New Teacher Induction Program - Learn about the New Teacher Induction Program ( NTIP ) which provides professional learning for new teachers.