Education Indicators in Canada: An International Perspective, 2019
Chapter C
The learning environment and organization of schools

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C1 Instruction time

Context

This indicator examines the amount of time, as established in public regulations, that Canadian students aged 6 to 17 must spend in class. More precisely, this indicator shows the annual number of hours of intended instruction time in the curriculum for students by single age (ages 6 to 17). This information is for Canadian public institutions for the 2018/2019 school year. Data are presented for Canada, and for the provinces and territories.^Note 

Instruction time in formal classroom settings accounts for a large portion of the public investment in student learning and is a central component of effective schooling. The amount of instruction time available to students is the amount of formal classroom teaching they receive and can therefore determine their opportunities for effective learning. It is also central to education policy decision-making. Matching resources with students’ needs and making optimal use of time are major challenges for education policy. The main costs of education are the use and deployment of teacher resources, institutional maintenance and other educational resources. The length of time during which these resources are made available to students is thus an important factor influencing the budget in education.

In combination with the information on teacher working time in Indicator C2 and teachers’ salaries presented in Indicator C3, this indicator on instruction time contributes to the development of a set of key measures for full-time teachers in public institutions that, in turn, contribute to expanding the context for discussion of quality of instruction and understanding certain aspects of education processes.

Observations

Intended instruction time by level of education

• In Canada, total cumulative intended instruction time in primary, lower and upper secondary education was highest in Manitoba at 11,655 hours.  It was lowest in Quebec^Note  at 9,900 hours.
• The average total cumulative intended instruction time in formal classroom settings for primary level education (ages 6 to 11), lower secondary level education (ages 12 to 14) and upper secondary level education (ages 15 to 17) was 5,518, 2,780 and 2,783 hours, respectively.
• In comparison, average total intended time was lower for the OECD countries with 5,016 hours at the primary level and higher for the OECD countries with 2,845 hours at the lower secondary level. ^Note 

Definitions, sources and methodology

Data on instruction time are from the 2018 OECD-INES, Eurydice – OECD Instruction Time Data Collection and refer to the 2018/2019 school year. Instruction time for 6- to 17-year-old students refers to the formal number of 60-minute hours per school year organized by the school for class instructional activities in the 2018/2019 reference year. Hours lost when schools are closed for statutory holidays are excluded.

Intended instruction time refers to the number of hours per year during which students receive instruction in the compulsory (this refers to the amount and allocation of instruction time that every public school must provide and all public-sector students must attend) and non-compulsory parts of the curriculum. The total compulsory curriculum comprises the compulsory core curriculum, as well as the compulsory flexible curriculum and non-compulsory parts of the curriculum. Intended instruction time does not include non-compulsory time outside the school day, homework, individual tutoring, or private study done before or after school.

Education is compulsory up to the age of 16 in every Canadian jurisdiction, except for Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nunavut, where education is compulsory up to the age of 18.

The average for Canada is calculated by weighting the figures for provinces and territories by the population of children, as of January 1, 2018, for the single ages 6 to 17 in each jurisdiction. All jurisdictions except Yukon and Nunavut are taken into account in the Canada average.

Note: The corresponding OECD indicator is D1, How much time do students spend in the classroom?.

C2 Teachers’ working time

Context

This indicator focuses on the working time and teaching time of teachers in public institutions, by level of education taught, in the 2017/2018 school year. Although working time and teaching time only partly determine teachers’ workloads, they provide valuable insight into the different demands that provinces and territories place on their teachers. Together with teachers’ salaries (see Indicator C3), this indicator describes some key aspects of teachers’ working conditions. Data are presented for Canada, and for the provinces and territories.^Note 

Similar to instruction time for students (see Indicator C1) and teachers’ salaries (see Indicator C3), the amount of time teachers spend teaching has an impact on education budgets. Moreover, teaching hours and the extent of non-teaching duties are major components of the working conditions and may have a direct bearing on the attractiveness of teaching as an occupation.

Of course, teachers also spend part of their working time on activities other than teaching, such as lesson preparation, marking, in-service training and staff meetings.

Observations

Teaching time and total working time

• In Canada, primary school teachers taught an average of 797 hours in 2017/2018 compared with the OECD average of 783 hours. Lower secondary school teachers taught an average of 744 hours in 2017/2018, compared with 709 hours for all OECD reporting countries.
• While the upper secondary OECD average (667 hours) of annual net teaching time was significantly lower than annual net teaching time for the lower and primary levels, the Canadian upper secondary average was fairly similar to hours taught at the lower secondary level at 746 hours.
• At the primary level, annual net teaching time varied from 700 hours in New Brunswick to 905 hours in Alberta.  These times were in a similar range to Finland and other G7 countries.
• At the lower secondary levels in Canada, Alberta reported the highest annual net teaching time at 905 hours. The lowest amount (615 hours) was reported in Quebec.
• The annual net teaching time in Canada at the lower and upper secondary levels (744 and 746 hours respectively) was most similar to the comparable measure in Germany, but significantly higher than annual net teaching time in Finland, Japan, Italy and France.
• Net teaching time in Finland was included as a comparison because of this country’s high ranking in international academic assessments.  Teachers in Finland at the primary (677) and lower secondary (592) levels had a lower net teaching time than all of the reporting G7 countries, Canada included.
• For OECD countries, annual net teaching time decreases as the level of education increases. At the Canada level, this pattern is also seen, however, between provinces, there is variability in the number of teaching hours per education level. These differences between provinces reflect different policy choices.

Proportion of total working time spent teaching

• In Canada in 2017/2018, the proportion of net teaching time to total working time (65% for primary, 60% for lower secondary and for upper secondary) was fairly similar to the OECD averages (66% for primary education, 60% for lower secondary and 59% for upper secondary education).
• Time spent teaching as a proportion of total working time varied widely from one province to another. In 2017/2018, at the lower and upper secondary levels, the proportion of working time spent teaching ranged from 48% in Quebec to 75% in Alberta.

Definitions, sources and methodology

These data are from the OECD-INES 2018 Survey on Teacher’s Salaries and Working Time and refer to the 2017/2018 school year.

All jurisdictions reported instruction time in weeks and days. The “number of weeks of instruction” and the “number of days of instruction” exclude the days per school-year the school is closed for holidays (public holidays and seasonal school holidays).

Only Quebec and Alberta reported statutory working time. For those two reporting jurisdictions, the figures for net teaching time required at school are set in provincial/territorial regulation or collective agreement with the provincial/territorial teachers’ union/association/federation. The remaining jurisdictions reported estimated teaching time of teachers based on the mandated instruction time set in regulation, legislation or collective agreement in each jurisdiction.

“Net teaching time” refers to the number of hours per day or hours per year that a full-time teacher teaches a group or class of students, as determined by policy. It excludes time spent outside of the classroom for non-teaching activities, such as lesson preparation, correction, in-service training and staff meetings. Net teaching time in hours per year is normally calculated as the number of teaching days per year multiplied by the number of hours a teacher teaches per day (excluding periods of time formally allowed for breaks between lessons or groups of lessons). At the primary level, short breaks between lessons are included if the classroom teacher is responsible for the class during those breaks. Apart from Quebec and Alberta, net teaching time was estimated by subtracting from mandated instruction time (as defined in Indicator C1), time allowed for teachers during the school day for marking and preparation as well as recess, if the latter was included in instruction time and if supervision of children was not mandatory.

“Working time required at school” represents the normal working hours of a full-time teacher. Working time may include the time spent specifically on teaching and the time devoted to teaching-related activities required at school, such as lesson preparation, counselling students, correcting homework and tests, professional development, meetings with parents, staff meetings and general school duties. Working time does not include paid overtime. In jurisdictions for which working time is not mandated, working time was estimated by adding supervision time, time for meetings and time for professional development to mandated instruction time.

“Total statutory working time” is the time that teachers are required to spend at work, including teaching and non-teaching time, as specified in regulation or collective agreements.

For all variables, the Canada level average is weighted by the number of full-time educators, for all levels of education combined,^Note  for all jurisdictions who submitted figures for both teaching time and working time.

Note: The corresponding OECD indicator is D4, How much time do teachers spend teaching?.

C3 Teachers’ salaries

Context

This indicator presents annual statutory salaries for teachers at the start of their careers, after 10 years’ experience, after 15 years’ experience, and once they have reached the top of the salary scale. These categories reflect salaries for teachers with the most common or typical level of training required for certification in public elementary and secondary educational institutions. All data on these salaries are presented for teachers teaching at the three levels in the International Standard of Classification (ISCED) categories: primary (ISCED 1); lower secondary (ISCED 2); and upper secondary (ISCED 3) education.^Note 

Teachers’ salaries represent the single largest expense in education (see Indicator B3 in this report). A comparison of salary figures at different points reveals some useful information on basic salary structures and the points of salary advancement in a teaching career. Salaries and the accompanying working conditions contribute towards developing, attracting and then retaining qualified teachers. Thus any compensation issue should be a major consideration for policy-makers or others in the education field who want and need to maintain a high quality of instruction while balancing their education budgets. At the same time, any interpretation of international comparisons of teacher compensation, including salaries, should be considered with several other factors in mind. While the salary figures for this particular indicator have taken differences in cost of living for Canada and its fellow OECD countries into account, it is not possible to capture all differences in taxation, social benefits and allowances, or any other additional payments that teachers may receive.

In combination with the information on instruction time and teachers’ working time, presented in Indicators C1 and C2, respectively, this indicator on teachers’ salaries contributes to the development of a set of key measures for full-time teachers in public institutions that, in turn, contributes to expanding the context for discussion of quality of instruction and understanding certain aspects of education processes.    

Observations

Teachers’ salaries

• In Canada, salaries for full-time teachers in public elementary and secondary schools do not vary across levels of education – teachers are paid the same salaries regardless of whether they are teaching at the primary, lower or upper secondary level.
• By contrast, in many of the countries that recently reported to the OECD, teachers’ salaries tended to rise with the level of education taught (see Table C.3.2).

Salaries throughout career experience in Canada

• Starting salaries for full-time teachers in primary, lower and upper secondary institutions averaged CAN$53,502 in Canada, and CAN$89,793 at the top of their salary scales. Typically the top of teacher’s pay scales are around one and a half times their starting salaries, which ranged from CAN$44,368 in Quebec to CAN$78,600 in the Northwest Territories.
• In Canada, teachers in most provinces/territories reached the top of the salary range at 10 years of experience. This is, in general, sooner than teachers in other OECD countries whose salaries continued to increase beyond 10 and 15 years’ experience.
• In Quebec, teachers did not reach the top of the pay scale until after 15 years’ experience.  Unlike other jurisdictions, in Quebec, the salary for 15 years’ experience/top of scale was about CAN$15,000 more than for teachers who had reached the 10-year point on the salary scale. 

International comparison of salary levels

• Full-time teachers in public institutions in Canada receive higher salaries overall compared with those in most other OECD countries.
• In general, teachers at the top of their pay scales in Canada had higher average salaries compared to other G7 countries. For example, in lower secondary institutions, teachers at the top of their pay scales had the third highest average salaries (US$67,007) among the G7 group of countries after Germany (US$88,214) and the USA (US$69,586).  Within Canada, equivalent teachers in the Northwest Territories (US$83,491), Ontario (US$72,738), Alberta (US$70,223), Newfoundland and Labrador (US$68,828) and Manitoba (US$67,781) received higher salaries than the Canadian average.

Years to top of scale salaries

• In 2017/2018, teachers in Canada reach their top of scale salary (US$67,007) at 11 years.
• Newfoundland teachers took the least amount of time to reach their top of scale salary (US$68,828) at 8 years. Quebec teachers took the most amount of time (15 years) to reach their top of scale salary (US$59,300).
• The majority of provinces and territories took less than 11 years (the Canada average) to reach their top of scale salary, with Newfoundland and Nova Scotia taking the least amount of time (8 and 9 years, respectively).

• Canada is ranked 10^th in the list of top 15 countries with the highest top of scale salary, surpassing Australia (US$65,560), the Flemish Community in Belgium (US$65,110), Spain (US$64,473), Japan (US$63,562), and the French Community in Belgium (US$63,030).
• Within this group of countries, the number of years to reach the top of scale salary ranges from 7 (Australia) to 39 (Spain) years, with the average number of years being 28.
• For countries that reported the number of years to reach their top of scale salary, Canada and Australia have the least number of years (11 and 7, respectively) and both of these countries have similar top of scale and starting salaries. Canada’s top of scale salary is US$27,082 more than its starting salary, while Australia’s top of scale salary is US$21,312 more. While it takes Australian teachers less time to reach their top of scale salary, they also make slightly less (US$1,447) than Canadian teachers.
• Luxembourg, being ranked highest in the list of 15 countries for top of scale salary, also has the highest starting salary (US$84,320) within this group of countries. Comparatively, the country with the lowest top of scale salary (ranked 15^th) is the French Community in Belgium, and this country is also among the bottom five countries for lowest starting salary.

Definitions, sources and methodology

The data on annual statutory teachers’ salaries were derived from the 2018 OECD-INES Teacher’s Salaries and Working Time Survey and reflect the 2017/2018 school year. All information has been reported in accordance with formal policies for public educational institutions.

“Statutory salaries” refer to salaries according to official pay scales and schedules. In Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon and the Northwest Territories, the annual statutory salaries are based on 2017/2018 salary scales in collective agreements between each jurisdiction’s teachers’ unions/associations/federations and the provincial or territorial government. In some provinces, however, namely Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia, these pay scales are established at the school-board level and there is no province-wide bargaining.^Note 

The salaries reported are gross (total sum paid by the employer); i.e., they do not include the employer’s contribution to social security and pension (according to existing salary scales). It is gross salary from the employee’s point of view, since it includes the part of social security contributions and pension scheme contributions that are paid by the employees (even if deducted automatically from the employee’s gross salary by the employer). Salaries are “before tax” (before deductions for income taxes). Gross teachers’ salaries are presented in current Canadian dollars, to be compared with the averages for Canada, which were derived from the provincial values (Table C.3.1). The average salary for Canada was calculated as a weighted average of all provinces (the Northwest Territories^Note  , Yukon^Note  and Nunavut^Note  are not included). Weights used depend on the salary calculated. For teachers at the beginning of their careers (starting salaries), the number of full-time educators younger than 30 was used. For teachers with 10 years of experience, the number of full-time educators aged 35 to 44 years was used. And, for teachers with 15 years of experience, as well as those at the top of the salary scale, the number of full-time educators aged 45 or older was used. The Northwest Territories are excluded from the Canada average because the Elementary-Secondary Education Survey (ESES) does not report a breakdown by age for the number of full-time educators. Salaries have also been converted to US dollars (Table C.3.2) using the purchasing power parity (PPP)^Note  for private consumption from the OECD National Accounts database.

“Starting salaries” capture the scheduled gross salary per year for a full-time teacher with the most common or typical level of training at the beginning of a teaching career. Salaries after 10 and 15 years of experience refer to the scheduled annual salaries of full-time classroom teachers who have the most common or typical training of teachers after 10 or 15 years of experience. The starting salaries and salaries for teachers after 10 and 15 years of experience reported for Ontario differ from other provinces and territories. The figures for Ontario are the midpoint of a range based on the provincially funded grid. They reflect the funded salary assuming the most common level of qualifications among teachers in Ontario at the relevant experience level. 

Note: The corresponding OECD indicator is D3, How much are teachers and school heads paid?

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