For Immediate Release: Monday, December 9, 2025

TORONTO, ON — With school violence increasing across Ontario and new proposals emerging from opposition parties for urgent investment in frontline support staff, the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (CUPE-OSBCU) and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FEESO), the two largest education worker unions in Ontario, are calling on the provincial government to work with education unions, our members, and parents to make schools safer and ensure students receive the supports they need.

“The crisis of violence in Ontario schools is real, and it is getting worse. For years, education workers, teachers, parents, and students have been sounding the alarm,” said Martha Hradowy, President of OSSTF/FEESO. “There simply are not enough qualified adults in classrooms to meet student needs. Until the government addresses staffing, violence will continue to rise and learning conditions will continue to deteriorate.”

“For years, the Conservative government has continued to cut billions of dollars in funding to the education sector, causing extreme understaffing, increased violence against staff and students, and our students’ needs being neglected,” said Joe Tigani, President of CUPE-OSBCU. “If Ford and Calandra are genuinely looking for consultation and solutions, they should start by speaking to education unions, whose members work in the in the system every single day. Ontario students don’t need more advisory boards; they need real investment and real action.”

The evidence is overwhelming. OSSTF/FEESO’s 2024 Safer Schools survey found that 75 per cent of members have seen rising incidents of violence over their careers and 31 percent experienced physical force in the previous school year.

CUPE-OSBCU released its own report, based on 12,000 respondents from education workers across Ontario, revealing that 74.6 percent of education workers experience violent or disruptive incidents in their work area — with over a third facing these incidents daily. Among Educational Assistants and Child and Youth Workers, the numbers are even more alarming: 95.8 percent report experiencing violence at work, and over half experience it every single day.

And earlier this year, data obtained through freedom of information requests shows a 77 per cent increase in violent incidents since 2018 and more than 4,400 incidents in the 2023 to 2024 school year.

The evidence also clearly shows inadequate levels of staffing are driving the crisis.

Education worker staff shortages leave students without timely support and leave teachers managing crises without the resources they require. The consequences are clear: increased risk of injury, heightened stress and burnout, and significant challenges with recruitment and retention, which only serves to further exacerbate staffing shortages.

Opposition parties have echoed these concerns. Last week, the opposition called for a $1 billion investment to hire at least 10,000 additional support staff across the province. While an immediate $1 billion investment is necessary, it is not nearly enough to bring Ontario’s education back to an adequate standard, as recent reports estimate the Ford government has defunded public education by $6.3 billion since 2018. “This government’s refusal to fund adequate supports is putting students and workers in harm’s way. Education workers are at a breaking point and students are suffering. These are not isolated incidents — they are the direct result of chronic underfunding and understaffing,” said Tigani.

“Our message is simple. No matter which party raises the issue, the solution remains the same. Ontario needs real, sustained investments in the qualified, caring adults who keep students safe and help them learn,” Hradowy said.

Following last week’s EQAO results, the provincial government announced a new advisory group to examine student achievement. CUPE-OSBCU and OSSTF/FEESO welcome any effort to improve student outcomes, but no reform can succeed without addressing the core issues of staffing shortages, overcrowded classrooms, rising violence, and a lack of in-school and community-based supports.

“Panels and reviews will not solve what staff and students are facing every day. Students need timely support from qualified adults. That requires investment right now,” said Hradowy.

“There is no question that the Ford government has abandoned the education sector. The Ontario government must increase its investment in students and education workers and address this situation immediately,” said Tigani.

OSSTF/FEESO and CUPE-OSBCU urge the provincial government to work with us and implement evidence-based solutions to end violence in schools, including:

• Emergency safe school funding to bring more qualified staff into classrooms, including education assistants and professional student support personnel.
• An education sector regulation in the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
• Stay and Learn tuition waivers to recruit more workers into shortage areas such as education assistant and child and youth worker programs.
• A Safe School Action Table that brings together unions, parents, and community partners to create a coordinated plan for safer learning environments.
• Commit to increase real per-pupil funding (including the restoration of all funding cuts due to inflation and enrolment growth) to improve student and staff supports.
• A meaningful plan to address the violence epidemic in schools.
• A plan to make schools accessible and inclusive for all students.

Martha Hradowy, OSSTF/FEESO President
Joe Tigani, CUPE–OSBCU President

For more information, please contact:

CUPE—Shannon Carranco at 514-703-8358 or scarranco@cupe.ca
OSSTF/FEESO—Caitlin Reid at 416-576-8346 or caitlin.reid@osstf.ca