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Labour Action UPDATE

September 30, 2025 news

Posted Oct 14, 2025

Applications are now open for the Parent Payment Program to support Alberta families affected by the teacher strike. Alberta’s government is providing $30 per day, per student aged 12 and under, for the duration of the disruption.

Starting October 14, families can apply for the parent payment program on Alberta.ca.

Eligibility

To be eligible, the following criteria must be met:

  • You must be the parent/guardian of a child aged 12 years or under.
  • Your child must be enrolled in a public, Catholic, or francophone school.
  • You and your child must be Alberta residents.

To be eligible for the additional support available to families of children with complex care needs, the following additional criteria must be met:

  • You must be the parent/guardian of a child aged 17 or under with an active FSCD agreement.

How to Apply

NOTE: Only one parent or guardian per child will be eligible for the parent payment program. 

You will require your child's Alberta Student Number (ASN) as part of the application process. This can be found on any of your child's Report Cards or Progress Reports. Contact your local school office if you require assistance locating your child's ASN.  

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Posted Oct 8, 2025

Please read the following letter to parents from the Minister of Education and Childcare, Demetrios Nicolaides. 

AB Education: Letter to Parents (Oct 8, 2025)

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Posted Oct 7, 2025

The following statement was provided to the media by the Teachers' Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) Chair Scott McCormick. 

The Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) provided lockout notice to the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) on October 6.

This is a routine process employers use in response to unions going on strike, which the ATA did on October 6. The lockout will begin October 9 at 1 p.m.

We saw earlier this year with rotating strikes by educational assistants the tremendous uncertainty it created for school divisions, parents and students who were given very short notice about where strike activity would be taking place.

The lockout will provide predictability and stability for students.

If the ATA has no intention of doing the same, then the lockout does not impact their current strike actions of removing teachers from all classrooms across the province.

TEBA remains dedicated to reaching a collective agreement and expects that the ATA will continue to bargain in good faith to reach a fair deal for teachers, school boards and our kids.

What This Means

There will be no change to the current situation for parents and students and support staff will continue to work their regular hours. General office emails and phone lines will remain open for communication purposes. 

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Posted: Oct 3, 2025

At this time Fort Vermilion School Division has no reason to believe that the strike will be averted, delayed, or amended. Therefore, all schools will be closed as of Monday, October 6, 2025 and all transportation will be suspended for the duration of the strike. Please DO NOT send your child to school on Monday or have them wait for a school bus.

Students and teachers (including principals) will not be able to access school buildings, however support staff will continue to work through the strike. General office emails and phone lines remain open and will be the only forms of communication available with your school. Please contact the school office during school hours if your child has forgotten any personal belongings to arrange for pickup.

Follow the FVSD website and social media channels for the latest updates. Information will also be shared with families through email. At the bottom of this page are links to access the supports announced by the Province of Alberta.  

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Posted: Sept 30, 2025

Monday evening, the Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) announced the results of a province-wide vote. Members voted to reject the latest agreement proposed by the Teachers' Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) with 89.5% voting no.

What This Means

With the rejection of this latest contract, a strike is very likely. The ATA had previously issued notice that they would commence labour action on October 6, 2025 if an agreement was not reached. 

Students will continue to attend school this week as usual, however parents should be prepared to make alternate childcare arrangements should a strike occur. 

Support for Students and Parents

The Province of Alberta has announced two new initiatives to support parents and students during a strike. 

  • Parent Toolkit
    To give families flexibility during a labour disruption, Alberta Education and Childcare has created a free toolkit that parents can use to help support their child’s independent learning when schools close. The toolkit provides weekly resources that follow the K to 12 curriculum.

The toolkit includes materials for two weeks of learning. Additional weeks of learning materials will be added as needed.

  • Parent Payment Program
    To help ease the extra costs families may face while children are home during labour action, the Alberta Government is introducing a parent payment program. This support will be available to parents and guardians of students aged 12 and under who attend a public, separate or francophone school affected by the disruption.

Eligible parents and guardians would receive approximately $150 per child for each week of labour action.

The payments will be made monthly, commencing October 31 and will be retroactive to October 6. Applications will be available through Alberta.ca. Further details, including an instructional video on the parent support payment, will be coming soon.

Information Links:

Statements from the Province of Alberta and the Alberta Teachers Association: