OECTA Simcoe Muskoka

Join Ontario NDP MPP and Education Critic Chandra Pasma on June 1 for a virtual Fund Our Schools town hall, with support from the York OECTA Unit.

Together, with parents, teachers, and education workers, let's champion what students need to succeed.

RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/june-1-york-region-fund-our-schools-town-hall/

Another powerful reminder of what educators, students, and education workers across Ontario are experiencing every single day.

A recent education town hall in Guelph highlighted growing concerns around burnout, classroom violence, lack of supports, larger class sizes, and ongoing funding shortfalls in public education. Educators spoke openly about the impossible workloads, increasing student needs, and the emotional toll these conditions are taking on school communities.

This conversation matters because these are not isolated experiences. They are realities being felt in classrooms across our province, including here in Simcoe Muskoka.

Our members continue to show up for students with compassion, professionalism, and care, even as resources continue to fall behind the growing needs in schools. But educators cannot continue holding the system together with “love and duct tape.”

Students deserve safe, supported learning environments.
Educators deserve working conditions that are sustainable.
Publicly funded education deserves proper investment.

We will continue to advocate for the supports our students and school communities need.

🌍Read more online on Guelph Today 05.22.2026

Ontario education minister says he can't interfere in Catholic board's Pride flag ban.

As members of OECTA, we believe that every student, educator, staff member, and family deserves to feel safe, valued, respected, and included in our schools and communities.

Recent discussions surrounding Pride flag bans in Ontario Catholic school boards have sparked important conversations about inclusion, belonging, and the responsibility we all share in supporting one another. As Catholic educators, we know that dignity, compassion, equity, and respect are not optional values; they are foundational to the work we do every day in our classrooms and schools.

Symbols matter. Representation matters. Everyone deserves to know they are seen, welcomed, and supported for exactly who they are.

Publicly funded Catholic education should continue striving to be a place where all members of our communities feel a true sense of belonging.

🌎Read more about it online, The Canadian Press 05.13.2026

"We must never let another province use Section 33 against gender affirming care.”

Alex McDonald speaks against use of the notwithstanding clause (Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) to limit access to healthcare for 2SLGBTQIA+ people.