Layoff notices issued to OCDSB staff as part of $20 million in cuts

Share this Story : Layoff notices issued to OCDSB staff as part of $20 million in cuts Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Breadcrumb Trail Links News Local News Layoff notices issued to OCDSB staff as part of $20 million in cuts Academic staff learned Wednesday and Thursday who would be cut, with reductions for non-academic staff still to come. Get the latest from Joanne Laucius straight to your inbox Sign Up Author of the article: Joanne Laucius Published Mar 27, 2025 • Last updated 2 minutes ago • 2 minute read Join the conversation You can save this article by registering for free here . Or sign-in if you have an account.

Under collective agreements, staff members at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board who are to be laid off must be notified before the end of March. Photo by JULIE OLIVER / Postmedia Article content Academic staff whose jobs are being eliminated as part of $20 million in budget cuts at Ottawa’s largest school board have received notice. Under collective agreements, staff members at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board who are to be laid off must be notified before the end of March, ahead of the regular budget debate.



Last week, facing a $20-million deficit, trustees reluctantly approved cutting about 150 positions , including about 80 non-academic positions to save $7.08 million and about 70 staff in discretionary academic positions to save $8.823 million.

Some of the reductions will come through attrition, including retirements and resignations, not filling vacant positions and eliminating other positions. Advertisement 2 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

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Activate your Online Access Now Article content Academic staffing represents about 55 per cent of the total operating budget of about $1.2 billion and includes school-based and centrally-assigned roles. Discretionary academic roles include principals and vice-principals, special education teachers, English as a Second Language teachers, instructional coaches and consultants.

Required academic positions include classroom teachers, student success teachers, guidance teachers, learning support teachers and teacher-librarians in high schools as well as reading-intervention teachers in elementary schools. The number of required teacher positions is generated by a provincial formula and is tied directly to provincial guidelines. The staffing allocation has been reduced by 46.

78 full-time-equivalent positions because of a modest decrease in projected enrolment next fall due to declining birth rates and fewer international students. Advertisement 3 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Stephanie Kirkey, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation’s Ottawa-Carleton bargaining unit, confirmed that some members received notices on Wednesday and Thursday, but did not have an exact tally of the numbers.

The board did not respond to a request from the Ottawa Citizen for more detail. At this point, the OCDSB does not know how much it will receive in provincial funding, but senior administrators are not optimistic there will be more money. “It’s unfortunate that these positions had to be cut,” Kirkey said.

“The system needs more funding.” Cuts to non-academic positions, which account for 26 per cent of the OCDSB operating budget, are still to come, along with a further $4 million in additional trims. Non-academic positions include roles in administration, business and corporate services, employee and school support services as well as school support positions such as educational assistants, early childhood educators, office staff, social workers and psychologists.

Trustees heard last week that upcoming cuts would include 14 education assistants . Our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark our homepage and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Recommended from Editorial OCDSB to release revised elementary school boundaries As parents vow to leave OCDSB, the Catholic board is creating waiting lists Article content Share this article in your social network Share this Story : Layoff notices issued to OCDSB staff as part of $20 million in cuts Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Comments You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.

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