Alberta teachers, government resume talks as provincewide strike hits second week

EDMONTON – The union representing Alberta teachers and the provincial government’s bargaining committee met Tuesday for the first time since a provincewide strike began a week ago.

As of Tuesday afternoon, neither side was able to provide details on the discussion.

The strike, in its sixth day, has kept some 740,000 students out of 2,500 schools.

Finance Minister Nate Horner said last week the government had received a new proposal from the Alberta Teachers’ Association, which represents the 51,000 teachers.

Horner said the union’s proposal is complex and the two sides wouldn’t meet until after the long weekend to give the government’s bargaining team time to review the deal.

The sides have not shared details about the proposal, though the union has said it wants the government to commit to hiring more teachers than it promised before.

The main issues in the labour dispute have been wages and overcrowded classrooms.

The last offer on the table, overwhelmingly rejected in a vote by teachers late last month, included a 12 per cent pay raise over four years and a promise to hire 3,000 more teachers to address overcrowded classes.

Opposition NDP education critic Amanda Chapman said the United Conservative Party government needs to invest in Alberta’s education system and table a new offer that will end the strike.

“Teachers and educators need smaller classrooms and better resources to address their needs, and students need to be back in their classrooms, learning,” Chapman said.

“It is entirely up to the UCP government to bring a deal forward that meets these needs and ensures Alberta’s public education system is funded properly, not last in the country.”

Also Tuesday, the government opened an online portal for parents to claim subsidies during the strike. Parents can receive $30 for each missed school day per child 12 and under to help cover the costs of child care.

Payments are to be retroactive and, if approved, roll out starting Oct. 31.

The province also recently added a third week of lessons to its online collection of educational materials for students to access while schools are closed.

The government has said the materials, which have been criticized as being disorganized with some U.S. content, are meant to help parents keep their children engaged during the strike.

Union locals across Alberta have also planned a number of rallies or walks in support of teachers this week, including in Calgary, in anticipation of the strike continuing.

An online poll published by the Angus Reid Institute suggests close to 60 per cent of Albertans surveyed have sympathy for striking teachers, while 21 per cent side with the government.

Support for teachers dropped to 28 per cent with past voters of Premier Danielle Smith’s UCP.

The poll surveyed just over 800 Albertans over three days last week. 

The polling industry’s professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2025.