November 29th, 2019

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) has announced that on Wednesday, December 4, 2019, their members will engage in a full withdrawal of services (strike action) in public schools where OSSTF is represented across the province unless an agreement is reached at the central bargaining table.

In the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB), OSSTF represents secondary school teachers as well as a number of other education workers. Education workers include our school secretaries, custodial and maintenance staff that work in all of our elementary and secondary schools, and our Education Centre and include the following groups:  Secondary Teachers and Occasional Teachers (TBU), Custodial and Maintenance (CAMA) , Educational Support Staff (ESS), Professional Student Services Personnel (PSSP), Supervision Monitors and Cafeteria Assistants (SMACA).  

These Education Workers are critical to the safety and well-being of our students and the daily operations of all of our schools.  As such, we have determined that we cannot ensure the safety of our students at schools during this particular one day (1-day) strike action. 

As a result, on December 4, 2019, ALL SCHOOLS, both elementary and secondary, will be closed to students. This includes ALL before and after school childcare programs, extended day childcare programs, Early ON Centres and third-party operated childcare centres. 

All extracurricular activities scheduled for December 4, 2019, are cancelled, and all evening rental permits are cancelled.

All schools will reopen and resume their regular routines on Thursday, December 5, 2019.

At this time, no other job action has been announced by OSSTF or the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO). We will continue to monitor the labour situation and will provide updates as they become available.  We remain hopeful that an agreement is reached and that our schools will be open to our students on Wednesday, December 4, 2019.

As changes to job action can happen at any time, it is important to stay tuned and stay informed in the event that the one-day full withdrawal of service is cancelled.  For information updates please:

We understand that job action is frustrating for families, students and staff.  Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time.