OSSTF/FEESO has an internal system for providing Certification Rating Statements to its teacher members. These ratings are used to determine the pay rate for teachers by placing them in one of four possible groups.
All teachers must complete Application Form 1 for a Certification Rating Statement in order to receive their maximum salary.
Teachers are rated based on their academic backgrounds and trade records according to Bylaw 22 – Certification of the OSSTF/FEESO Constitution and Bylaws, and procedures found in the Teacher Certification Handbook (PDF). Changes to these and other guidelines governing the placement of teachers in groups occur on a regular basis. Members should review the recent changes to determine if a re-evaluation for a new Certification Rating Statement should be requested.
Please be advised that steps are underway to transfer OSSTF Certification to the Qualifications Evaluation Council of Ontario (QECO). OSSTF and QECO certification regulations regarding the placement of teachers in groups or categories are similar, however the charts are not identical. It is possible for some members to be in a different Group or Category in one system than in the other, depending on your academic credentials. These differences may impact your decisions regarding future professional development decisions.
Until further notice, members applying for an OSSTF certification rating statement or re-evaluation must continue to do so using the forms available on the OSSTF website. Certification requests which are not accompanied by a current application form will not be processed. During the transfer and digitization of files, some information may be inaccessible for a number of days. You are encouraged to apply for rating statements and group changes as early as possible. The transfer to QECO will not be complete until Collective Agreements are updated to reflect the change, and we cannot predict what those timelines will be. For more information about QECO certification, visit their website.
For more information and answers to frequently asked questions regarding the move to QECO, please see June 2019 article in Update, “Did you know that OSSTF/FEESO Certification is moving to QECO?”