Alberta’s teachers’ strike in Alberta is being driven by the issue of class sizes. The exact size of classes is challenging to determine as the province no longer collects specific data on this. Previously, Alberta publicly shared data on class sizes annually for over 1,500 schools, but this practice was terminated by the newly elected UCP government in 2019.
Furthermore, the government changed the funding formula for school boards from an annual enrollment-based growth model to a three-year weighted moving average (WMA). This change has been criticized by larger school boards in rapidly growing cities, as it ties funding to past enrollment numbers, hindering their ability to accommodate current growth.
The shift in funding coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to fluctuations in enrollment figures. Although the impact on class sizes is hard to quantify due to the lack of recent data, trends show a disparity between student enrollment growth and the increase in teaching staff numbers since the change was implemented.
In response to ongoing concerns, the government introduced a new two-year weighted average funding formula for the 2025-26 school year. This change aims to address classroom pressures by providing faster funding to growing school divisions and enhancing stability for smaller ones.
The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) has called for more significant efforts to address teacher shortages in the province, estimating a need for over 5,000 new teachers to meet recommended pupil-teacher ratios. Despite challenges in obtaining precise class size data, reports indicate that class sizes in many schools surpass optimal levels, highlighting the importance of transparency and accountability in the education system.