r/nunavut • u/Active_Aerie2973 • 3d ago
Early teaching roles
Hey everyone!
I'm from South Africa 🇿🇦 and currently teaching English in South Korea, and I'm on track to finish my teaching qualification next year in June (2027).
Honestly, I’m so excited about the prospect of teaching in Nunavut that I want to be as proactive as possible right now! I dream of taking on a classroom in a remote community as soon as my completion documents are in hand.
Since I want to get a head start and build a pipeline for the 2027/2028 school year:
Is it too early to connect directly with Regional School Operations (like Qikiqtani, Kivalliq, or Kitikmeot) or principal contacts to express my interest for next year?
Where is the best place to track active postings early on (Education Canada, ApplyToEducation, or district portals)?
I'd love to hear from anyone who has navigated hiring in the North or transitioned from international teaching! Thanks so much for any advice!
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u/BluebirdNo1144 2d ago
We have a severe shortage of housing in Nunavut. Naturally, it causes jealousy and it raises a lot of questions.
How are you guys getting housing so easily, whilst the community members that have lived here for 20+ years still on a waiting list to be approved for housing.
I will be quite honest being born and raised up in Nunavut, there are a lot of barriers. There will absolutely be students you come across that do not understand english and if you have a thick accent, no one will understand you. It will be frustrating on both ends trying to teach in a language that one person barely understands.
Now the other thing is, we know that people just come up here to make money and we are seen as if we are lower. We welcome people up here, however there are a lot of people that show no respect for the community. If you do miraculously end up here and have housing available for you immediately, do not be surprised when people start being mean. And please dont go on and brag about how much money you make up here. It makes us feel like we are nothing but a piggy bank. It feels inhumane sometimes.
As i said, housing is so extremely scarce. Having strangers that arent even from Canada coming up here to a home waiting for them will absolutely cause jealousy, rightfully so.
The homelessness is at an all time high, some people live in abandoned sheds, tents, and if they are lucky enough, they sleep in their car.
Families of 6 live in 2 bedroom apartments. Massive families live together in a small house not by choice.
You will be bashed by a lot of people, but there will be people that welcome you. Its a grey area.
Groceries are so expensive. Vegetables and fruits often come in already spoiling or covered in mold.
Im not saying dont come up, however these are some realistic things you must think of
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u/BluebirdNo1144 2d ago
OP should also consider seasonal depression. Yes, its doable, but they must understand how it is.
The higher up in nunavut the OP goes, the harder it hits. There is 24 hours where the sun doesnt rise from Nov all the way until Feb.
Around April the sun doesnt set until August. 24 hours of the bright sun. It will disrupt your sleep cycle. Its exhausting and so depressing. I say that and i lived up in nunavut my entire life (25 years of it)
There may be some questions of why stay to live up here, but its been my home and to my ancestors. A lot of people feel that way and moving to a big city is so scary coming from a small community where its isolated and you know you are safe.
If OP can handle everything i have listed (just tip of the ice berg) they may be able to do it. Its not impossible. But hard? Yes
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u/CBWeather 2d ago
While your comments about housing are true, it's also true that we need teachers and they need housing. It's a major problem that's almost impossible to break. I'm living in a four bedroom house with about twelve people covering three, soon to four generations.
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u/BluebirdNo1144 13h ago
I agree. We are so short in teachers :(
In arctic bay students miss out on school frequently due to lack of teachers. I understand why teachers leave though. Its so hard living high up in the north i had to move to southn baffin. Its a little easier cause theres actually things to do in iqaluit. In arctic bay there is nothing. All you can do is drive around which will take no more than 10 mins to cover the community going 30km
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u/Kick24229 2d ago
Judging by this comment, teacher, your dream is too complicated and you might not even find a place to live!
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u/ArthurWombat 2d ago
You can’t just show up with a South African passport and teaching certificate and take a job in Canada. Have you checked that your teaching certificate would be valid in Canada?(for NU. you would need a certificate valid in any other province or territory. )There is a surplus of trained Canadian teachers now. Can you get a visa? If you really want to teach in northern Canada check out Yukon or NWT as well as remote parts of other provinces.
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u/CompetitionFine9658 2d ago
That surplus of teachers is not a reality in Nunavut. So long as they are legally allowed to enter Canada I have no doubt they will get hired. At the very least, they could get a LOA and work in Nunavut. The bar for being hired is having a pulse, and it is detrimental to the territory, but what can you do they need the workers!
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u/stuckintheNCR 3d ago
Engage now through your contacts. Be aware that communities need devotion...not a one year experience for you, but a community member.
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u/WhichColourIsYours 3d ago
Government of Nunavut website posts lots of teaching jobs on their website
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u/splinteredsunlight-_ 2d ago
Wowza.
Usually when somebody posts about teaching on this sub, they aren't hit with so much negativity.
Seems like OP made the poor decision of being African...
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u/splinteredsunlight-_ 2d ago
I'm gonna be honest OP...usually these threads about teaching jobs are mostly positive with a few warnings sprinkled in.
I think your home continent has inspired people to lean heavily into the negative.
I would look at previous threads to get a better picture of pathways to teach here and what to expect.
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u/AssortedArctic 16h ago
I could be wrong because I only see these posts occasionally on my feed, but I think it's just about being not Canadian, not more specific than that. All the other posts I usually see are from Canadians. While people feel used by people either way, I can understand people feeling more used by foreigners who are trying to find fast ways to immigrate and tend to understand even less about the communities and their problems than other Canadians do.
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u/Peg_pond_gem 2d ago edited 2d ago
If that's your plan you better start educating yourself in the extreme about First Nations history and current practices. Pretty much all of the Canadian curriculum, particularly up North, require Indigenous perspectives baked into every subject matter. You also have no idea what you're getting yourself into concerning the weather, the sunlight and the scarcity of nearly everything- including housing. Edit- apparently Inuit are not considered "First Nations" however they are certainly considered indigenous. I should have used the term Indigenous perspectives as opposed to First Nations perspectives.
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u/Fragrant_Employ_1276 2d ago
I downvoted because this comment encouraging education, while I think well-intentioned, is incorrect and could lead to harm. The Indigenous people of Nunavut are Inuit, not First Nations.
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u/trumpeting-farts 2d ago
You're not excited to teach in Nunavut. You're excited to get a foot in the door to teach in Canada so you don't have to go back to South Africa to teach.
And that is fair... but the people in these remote arctic communities aren't stupid. They know that their lives and communities are used a springboards for people who are looking for work. Everybody leaves. If people were truly excited to work in Nunavut, they wouldn't keep leaving.