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In the context of Alberta’s recent teacher strike, which began on October 6, 2025, following the rejection of a government contract offer, a pertinent question arises. The offer included a 12 percent wage increase for teachers over four years. Rather than applying this raise, what if the equivalent funds were allocated to hire additional educational assistants? Such a reallocation could address classroom support needs directly. This analysis relies on publicly available data to compute the potential impact, prioritizing transparency in figures and assumptions.

Alberta’s education system employs 51,000 teachers under the Alberta Teachers’ Association. Their average annual salary is $85,523. This results in a total annual payroll of approximately $4.36 billion. Implementing a 12 percent increase would add roughly $523 million to this payroll each year, once fully phased in, based on the offer’s structure.

Educational assistants in Alberta earn an average of $33,811 per year. If the $523 million earmarked for the teacher raise were instead used for hiring these support staff, it could fund approximately 15,480 new positions. This figure assumes full-time roles with comparable benefits and no significant overhead variances, focusing on direct salary costs.

This hypothetical redirection highlights trade-offs in education funding. While teachers seek compensation adjustments amid rising class sizes and workloads, bolstering assistant roles could alleviate immediate pressures in classrooms. The calculation underscores the scale of resources involved, inviting scrutiny of priorities in public spending.

Sources and Methodology

To ensure reproducibility, below are the key sources and the step-by-step mathematics used. All data points are drawn from recent, credible reports as of October 2025, with links provided for verification.

Key Data Sources

– Number of teachers: 51,000, from CBC News coverage of the strike (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-alberta-teacher-labour-strike-monday-1.7650856). Corroborated by Human Capital Magazine (https://www.hcamag.com/ca/specialization/industrial-relations/largest-labour-walkout-ever-51000-alberta-teachers-hold-strike/552206) and Calgary Herald (https://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/potential-teacher-strike-results-vote-tentative-deal-province).

– Average teacher salary: $85,523 annually, from Alberta’s Labour Information Service (ALIS) wage survey (https://alis.alberta.ca/occinfo/wages-and-salaries-in-alberta/elementary-school-and-kindergarten-teachers/41221/). Supported by Statistics Canada data (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710024301).

– Wage increase details: 12 percent over four years (structured as 3 percent annual), from CBC News (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-teachers-strike-lockout-questions-9.6934129) and Alberta Teachers’ Association announcement (https://teachers.ab.ca/news/teacher-strike-imminent). Additional context from Canadian Taxpayers Federation (https://www.taxpayer.com/newsroom/alberta-teachers-should-be-ready-for-a-long-strike).

– Average educational assistant salary: $33,811 annually, from ALIS (https://alis.alberta.ca/occinfo/occupations-in-alberta/occupation-profiles/educational-assistant/). Hourly equivalent of $24.53 from the same source (https://alis.alberta.ca/occinfo/wages-and-salaries-in-alberta/elementary-and-secondary-school-teacher-assistants/43100/).

Step-by-Step Calculations
1. Total teacher payroll: Number of teachers × Average salary = 51,000 × $85,523 = $4,361,673,000.
2. Cost of 12 percent increase: 0.12 × $4,361,673,000 = $523,400,760 (annualized, post-phasing).
3. Number of educational assistants fundable: Increase amount ÷ Average EA salary = $523,400,760 ÷ $33,811 ≈ 15,480 (rounded to nearest 10 for practicality).

These steps assume the increase represents a permanent uplift in payroll costs. Variations could occur if considering phased implementation or additional factors like benefits (typically 20-30 percent of salary), but the core estimate holds for illustrative purposes. Readers are encouraged to cross-check with primary sources for any updates.