New SMU education programs, faster B.Eds. aim to increase teacher supply

New and accelerated education programs could boost the teacher supply in the province by increasing the number of new graduates.

New funding agreements signed between each university and the province show Saint Mary's University has pitched two new education degrees and other schools could tighten the timelines for their bachelor of education degrees.

Some of the ideas included in the agreements include:

• Saint Mary's developing a new four-year bachelor of arts in education and a new bachelor of science in education.
• Acadia University, Mount Saint Vincent University, St. Francis Xavier University and Université Sainte-Anne exploring eight-month, 12-month and 100 per cent virtual bachelor of education programs, and a four-year integrated program.
• MSVU partnering with Université Sainte-Anne to offer French-speaking B.Ed. students a chance to take B.Ed. courses in French.
• St. FX offering an off-campus B.Ed. in the Yarmouth/Shelburne/Digby area.
• St. FX developing a concurrent BA/B.Ed. over five years.
• St. FX reducing other off-campus B.Ed. programs from 34 months to 30 or 26 months.

The Advanced Education Department, along with the Education and Early Childhood Development Department, declined an interview request, but said in a joint statement that Nova Scotia's classrooms are fully staffed this school year, except for a small number of specialty positions.

But that could be poised to change.

"To keep pace with population growth, Nova Scotia will need more teachers, and we are taking a proactive approach to ensure our supply of teachers continues to meet our demand," the statement said.

Over the past three years, 500 students on average have started B.Ed. programs in Nova Scotia, and in 2025-26, more than 600 seats are expected to be available, the statement said.

New programs

The proposed four-year bachelor of arts in education and bachelor of science in education at SMU would produce teachers and be equivalent to a B.Ed. combined with undergraduate studies. The program would allow graduates to qualify to obtain their teaching licence.

A spokesperson for SMU declined an interview request about the proposed programs, saying in a statement that the university is in the process of replying to the government's request for more information.

The four-year integrated B.Ed. program suggested for Acadia, MSVU, St. FX and Université Sainte-Anne would allow students to get an education degree and finish teacher training within a four-year degree, instead of doing an undergrad and education degree separately.

Expedited programs available

The province has already taken steps to accelerate the timeline for completing some B.Ed. programs.

Acadia and Université Sainte-Anne offer 16-month programs, MSVU offers a 14-month option, and Cape Breton University offers a pilot eight-month online degree and has reduced its in-person teaching degree from 15 months to 12 months, beginning this spring.

The province also wants to make changes so universities can consider applicants to B.Ed. programs after just two years of undergraduate study, rather than after completing an entire undergrad degree.

However, that change must be approved by both the government and the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, and the NSTU has not yet supported that change, the departments said.

NSTU president Peter Day said the union is open to discussing changes to teacher certification requirements "through a teacher retention and recruitment lens."

"Nova Scotia families expect their children's teachers to be properly qualified for the job. Ensuring that all teachers and specialists receive the appropriate training as classrooms become increasingly complex is critical," he said.

The province says the departments have also tried to meet the demand for teachers by adding 75 B.Ed. seats at CBU, giving early offers of employment to graduates so they know they have a guaranteed job in the province, and giving preferred admission to B.Ed. programs to Nova Scotian students.

NSTU reacts

Day said the union is supportive of shorter time frames for B.Ed. programs as long as the course credits and practical hours are not reduced.

But, he said, there's another key factor in the teacher shortage that won't be fixed by the accelerated degree timelines: retention.

Day said one-third of teachers leave the profession in the first five years due to issues like workload, class size and school violence. The shortage of specialists like counsellors, behavioural specialists, school psychologists and speech language pathologists also makes classrooms more complex, he said.

"Retention is a major concern," Day said. "And, you know, if the universities want to pump out all these new teachers only to have them leave the profession because they're not properly supported once they get in the job, I think that would be a very, very real shame."

Day said there are teaching and specialist positions that were posted in September that have yet to be filled.