Ontario College of Teachers

junglegym · Post by **junglegym** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 10:43 am

I registered with Ontario College of Teachers right out of Uni and have been paying the annual fee ($138). At this point, I don't plan to go back to Canada for at least 4 years, if ever. Are there any benefits to having this membership while overseas? Do schools like to see membership with a group like this? Reinstatement fee would be about double the membership fee.

jbiersteker · Post by **jbiersteker** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:54 pm

my concern in regards to the College is whether the Canadian gov't will look at this as a significant residential tie to in regards to my non-residedency status.

Thanks!!

mbovi · Post by **mbovi** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 5:26 pm

Ummmm...being a member of the OCT is necessary for you to practice. It's what keeps your license current. Most top tier international schools and govts ( who are processing your work visa ) need to know that your license is still valid. In fact, when I applied to all the top tier schools ( and am currently working in one / was hired by the top tier in Tokyo ), they checked the OCT in order to send the results to the Japanese govt to process the additional years for my work visa.

Eric · Post by **Eric** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 6:02 pm

Definitely pay your annual fees. I'm not from Ontario but had colleagues who were and they always paid their annual fees as they planned to return. I never thought I'd return to my home country, so stopped paying my fees. Well, I did return, and let me tell you, it was a huge hassle (paperwork, more paperwork, and alot of $$) getting my certification re-instated. So yes, pay the money. I will say, though, that the int'l schools I worked at never checked if I kept my certification current.

Open Communication · Post by **Open Communication** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 8:13 pm

edited.

CNDed · Post by **CNDed** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 11:58 pm

I know there's quite a few international schools abroad who work with the Ontario Curriculum and they do state that that you will need a Ontario License to apply or at least qualify for it. In the end, I think it's better to have one than not.

I have kept my Ontario license up to date, just so I have my options opened in the future.

Helen Back · Post by **Helen Back** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 12:25 am

Keep it current. It's a small amount of money. Could you imagine a bunch of doctors discussing whether or not they should bother keeping their license current or just let it lapse because no one is looking?

Seriously, this is your professional certification we are talking about, not a magazine subscription.

shadowjack · Post by **shadowjack** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 2:45 pm

I have been in and out of Canada teaching. I am certified in BC and Alberta. BC certification expires, in that you stop paying and they either drop you or move you to the inactive list. However, when I go back to BC (as I have before), I have had no problem getting my membership in the college of teachers reactivated (and now there is a new organization). I would suspect I would have to pay a fee, but as long as I am teaching somewhere, I am OK.

Alberta has permanent certification. I passed my probationary year there and taught for two years, and thus gained permanent certifcation. This is a good thing to have.

I find Ontario to be the most - and most US-like of all the provinces. I have no desire to ever teach there and no desire to jump through the hoops that I know would be placed in front of me.

IAMBOG · Post by **IAMBOG** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 3:41 pm

We had a teacher who had been issued a permanent BC certificate 20 years ago. He went off and had non-teaching jobs for 15 years, but eventually got a job in a British school overseas. This was fine, because they didn't check his status in BC. After leaving the British school he got a job in Canadian school. The school looked into his license and found it was no longer valid. Apparently, there had been some changes to the regulations and he had needed to update his info several years ago. Not being a member and having moved he was not informed of this and the license lapsed. In order to have the license reinstated he was required to take several courses in order to update his qualifications. In the end it was just too difficult to do. He moved on to a lower tier American curriculum school and again it wasn't an issue.

Food for thought, if nothing else.

mbovi · Post by **mbovi** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 6:15 pm

[quote="Helen Back"]Keep it current. It's a small amount of money. Could you imagine a bunch of doctors discussing whether or not they should bother keeping their license current or just let it lapse because no one is looking?

Seriously, this is your professional certification we are talking about, not a magazine subscription.[/quote]

I think Helen Back said it the best here. If you have pride in your profession, you would keep that license current / updated by paying the fee regardless of whether you will be teaching or returning to Ontario or not. I would never ever want to teach in Ontario....but I still pay the fees and keep it current. After all, I would never want any of my students' parents, employers and colleagues to check up on my license and find that I don't have an updated license.

Dredge · Post by **Dredge** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 7:47 pm

If all you have to do is pay, you should definitely do it. I am from Wisconsin and my license was about to expire, but on top of the fee to renew, we have to do a Professional Development Plan every time we renew. This is a five year process that involves coordinating a goal review team, writing a bunch of professional goals that require clear and concise artifacts that prove you achieved or tried to achieve your goals, reflections on these goals, then all of this has to be reviewed by your team that you have to organize and then they approve it or not. Of course, this is all after you have already completed 8 years of education, Masters degree included, taken multiple professional development courses, also any other content courses you may have needed along the way, etc. etc.,.

As I said, if it's just a matter of writing a check, seems like a good idea. I would like to mention that I have decided to apply for a license in the State of Missouri. International teachers from the U.S. might be interested in this. When I get the license from them, which will be in a few weeks, it is good for 99 years. Yep, 99 years without required Professional Development Plans, extra courses, etc. Very strange, but true.

junglegym · Post by **junglegym** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 10:34 pm

Thanks for all the great (and some necessarily harsh) feedback!

I really do need to see OCT as the professional designation it is, rather than just an organization for Ontario teachers.

Can anyone comment, from experience, how registration with OCT will affect residency status? I'm looking into it as well, but first hand experiences are so helpful.

Thanks again!

IAMBOG · Post by **IAMBOG** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 11:23 pm

I wouldn't worry about residency status in this case. They can't expect you to abandon your professional qualification to be classified non-residency. We have credit cards and banks accounts in Canada too. I don't think this is an issue UNLESS you also have a house in Canada (not rented out) and spend a significant portion of your life there.

junglegym · Post by **junglegym** » Sun Apr 14, 2013 1:18 pm

Makes sense, thanks IAMBOG.

Teachermama · Post by **Teachermama** » Sun Apr 14, 2013 3:37 pm

I got mine in BC and let it lapse because my private school didn't require it. It was a pain to get back and I did have to pay a reinstatement fee and get certified letters from schools I taught at, etc. when I went to get it back. In hindsight, it would have been worth the money to just keep it current, which is what I am doing now. I didn't keep it up originally because I was supposed to have a permanent certificate and didn't feel like membership was necessary but they changed it all while I was out of the loop... Another reason to stay current. I would have known that the governing boby was changing stuff like that.