The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO; , FEÉO) is a

labour union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

representing all public

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

teachers, occasional teachers, and some designated early childhood educators (DECEs) in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. The union has 76 local chapters in the province, and over 83,000 members. The union was founded on July 1, 1998, by the merger of the Federation of Women Teachers' Associations of Ontario (FWTAO) and the Ontario Public School Teachers' Federation (OPSTF). ETFO's 83,000 members join the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (representing approximately 8,000 members), the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (representing approximately 45,000 members) and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (representing approximately 60,000 members) to form the Ontario Teachers' Federation. ETFO is also a member of the Canadian Teachers' Federation.

Governance

The governance framework is outlined in a number of different documents including th
BylawsConstitutionHuman Rights StatementPolicy StatementsPosition Statements
an
Equity Statement
These documents form the framework for how ETFO is governed and what it sets out to accomplish for its members.

Provincial Presidents

Karen Brown

Toronto teacher Karen Brown was elected president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario in 2021. Brown has served as ETFO first vice-president since 2015 and was first elected to the provincial Executive in 2009. Brown is the first Black president to be elected to a provincial teacher affiliate union in Ontario and the first known Black president to be elected to a provincial teacher affiliate union in Canada.

Provincial Executive

ETFO's provincial organization includes four fully released officers: President, First Vice-President, Vice-President Female and Vice-President. All four of these officers are ETFO members (teachers, occasional teachers, DECEs or other educational professionals) that have been released from their teaching duties for their term in office. In addition to the 4 released officers, ETFO's provincial governing body includes one representative to the Ontario Teachers' Federation (OTF Table Officer), and as many additional officers required to make up the 14-member Executive. Of those remaining positions, 4 of them are open to women only. All Provincial Executive positions are elected by the general membership at ETFO's Annual Meeting held each summer in August. All terms last 2 years.

Executive, 2023–2025

Non-elected positions

ETFO locals

Each

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

in Ontario has at least 1 ETFO Local serving members who work within that school board. Teacher Locals are present in all school boards. 1 board (James Bay) has only a Teacher Local, 10 boards have DECE (Dedicated Early Childhood Educator) Locals, 2 boards have ESP and one of those 2 (Renfrew County) also has a PSP Local. The objectives and priorities of ETFO are contained in the constitution: While all boards now have DECEs as a result of the implementation of Full Day Kindergarten for children aged 4 – 6, not all of those educators are represented by ETFO. ETFO Reference Book 2015-2016

Advocacy and equity

ETFO has been seen as a leader among teachers' federations on equity issues. With 80%+ female members, ETFO is particularly active in its support for women's participation and leadership. The ETFO Executive has adopted this definition of equity:

References

External links

* {{Authority control Trade unions in Ontario Education trade unions Educational organizations based in Ontario Trade unions established in 1998