Public schools across the island of Montreal are facing a severe shortage of specialized professionals, with staffing vacancies reaching critical levels that education leaders describe as an exodus rather than a simple shortage. According to data from the Quebec Ministry of Education dashboard, one in four speech-language pathologist positions in Montreal public schools was vacant at 25,8 % as of April 13. Nearly one in five psychoeducator roles stood empty at 18,8 %, while more than one in 10 school psychologist positions remained unfulfilled.
While the broader province of Quebec experiences less acute shortages—reporting vacancy rates of 12,7 % for speech-language pathology, 9 % for psychoeducation, and 11,4 % for psychology—Montreal’s public education network has wrestled with persistent staffing gaps for years. Ministry data tracking systems indicate that vacancy rates for these three critical professions in Montreal have historically fluctuated between 16,6 % and 26,8 % during comparable periods since the 2022-2023 academic year. Provincial education officials note that these historical comparisons require careful analysis, citing ongoing methodological refinements designed to eliminate duplicate entries in total position counts.
The compounding shortage makes building functional school teams increasingly difficult, according to Francis Côté, president of the Quebec Federation of School Principals (FQDE). While administrative procedures like student assessment coding have seen some easing by school service centres, Côté points out that working conditions continue to undermine the appeal of the school environment. Budgetary instability further strains staff retention. Côté recalled an atmosphere of fiscal uncertainty leading up to the autumn term, noting that schools faced sudden adjustments right before the start of classes, forcing administrators to cut roles, reorganize positions, and assign professionals across multiple campuses.
“We have to turn this around, because in a few years, it’s going to be catastrophic,” Côté said.
At the Quebec Federation of Education Professionals (FPPE-CSQ), union leadership argues that the term “shortage” fails to capture the true nature of the crisis. Carolane Desmarais, president of the federation, characterizes the trend as an exodus. Desmarais emphasizes that the problem stems not from a lack of trained professionals or university graduates, but rather from practitioners increasingly choosing to bypass the public education sector. Unfavorable working conditions and the expanding pull of the private sector drive this shift, according to the union.
Desmarais points to the expansion of large corporate entities entering the professional services market to offer private care directly to parents, competing directly with traditional school boards. This commercial expansion mirrors the long-standing growth of private psychological practices operating outside the public school system.
Precarious Employment and Retention Challenges
The structural instability of public sector contracts acts as a major deterrent for specialized personnel. Paul-André Gallant, president of the Ordre des orthophonistes et audiologistes du Québec (OOAQ), expressed reluctance to label the situation a pure labor shortage, noting that the province has more speech-language pathologists than ever before. Labeling it solely a shortage risks sending the defeatist message that expanding a position from three days to five days a week is futile.
Instead, Gallant identifies job precarity as the primary barrier to recruitment. While speech-language pathologists generally enjoy working within schools, professionals face late-arriving non-recurrent budgets, last-minute job postings, and sudden reassignments between different schools from one day to the next. These erratic conditions drive practitioners toward more stable employment.
A parallel crisis affects school psychologists, who navigate similar institutional hurdles. Annie Bernatchez, president of the Quebec Association of School Psychologists (AQPS) and a practitioner at the Grandes-Seigneuries School Service Centre, highlights a critical pipeline problem. Citing recent data, Bernatchez notes that only 8 % of registered psychologists—representing approximately 804 individuals—practice within school settings.
Bernatchez attributes part of this low representation to a lack of academic preparation. University psychology curricula rarely include coursework dedicated specifically to school psychology. While institutions like the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) relaunched a specialized school psychology program, Bernatchez notes that too few universities across Quebec adequately prepare psychology students for school-based practice, a deficiency educators have flagged for two decades.
Future Outlook and Official Oversight
As education unions, professional orders, and administrative bodies press for structural reforms to improve job security and working conditions, public school administrators continue to manage daily staffing gaps. Stakeholders maintain that reversing the trend requires predictable funding models, permanent full-time postings, and stronger alignment between university training programs and the realities of working in public education.
Official monitoring of vacancy rates continues through the Quebec Ministry of Education’s ongoing data collection framework. Readers seeking further information on public education updates, professional standards, or institutional policies can consult official documentation provided by the Quebec Ministry of Education or relevant professional orders.
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