Elementary school teacher in Canada: your Express Entry path

Your way into the Express Entry pool

Every invitation needs a profile in the Express Entry pool. Teachers usually qualify through:

• Federal Skilled Worker. Experience must be in a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 job; teaching is TEER 1.
• Canadian Experience Class. For skilled work experience already gained in Canada.

Where the education rounds stand

Education rounds rank only people with recent experience in one of the five listed education jobs. You need at least 12 months of full-time work (or the same part-time) in this occupation within the last 3 years; the months do not have to be in a row, and the work must match the NOC description of the job. As the panel above shows, the last education round was in September 2025 and none has been held yet in 2026. IRCC holds a category round only when it needs one, so your score in the regular rounds matters just as much.

Getting certified to teach

The NOC says a provincial teaching certificate is required, and each province runs its own process:

• Ontario: to teach in a publicly funded school you must be certified by the Ontario College of Teachers. The College accepts applications from teachers educated outside Canada, including people still living abroad, through the registration guide for your teaching category. Once your application is complete it replies within 60 days, and if your teacher education was outside Ontario and not in English or French you must meet its language requirements.
• Alberta: you need a teaching certificate issued by Alberta Education. Teachers educated abroad apply for Interim Professional Certification online through the Teacher Workforce Information System (TWINS); credentials are assessed course by course, and the minimum is 4 years of university including a recognised degree and a teacher preparation program.
• British Columbia: you need a B.C. teaching certificate to teach in public and independent schools. The Teacher Regulation Branch assesses teachers educated outside Canada, and academic studies alone are not enough: you need a completed teacher training program that qualified you to teach where you trained.

What teachers earn

The panel above shows Job Bank's median hourly wage for this occupation across Canada, with pay by province and region on Job Bank.