Casual student support staff approvals in Nunavut drops from 75 to 15

Nunavut’s Education Department approved 15 requests for casual student support assistants this school year, one-fifth of the number it approved the school year prior.

Of those 15, a total of 11 have been hired, according to figures the department provided Nunatsiaq News Wednesday.

The department is recruiting workers for the remaining four positions, spokesperson Kuthula Matshazi said in an email.

He said some positions couldn’t get filled despite recruiting efforts. Others remained vacant due to relief employees filling in or workers going on leave.

Student support workers join classroom teachers to help them deliver the curriculum. They work with individual students who require accommodations and those who follow unique education guidelines. School leaders can submit requests for casual support staff when they don’t have enough permanent staff to meet demand.

There is currently 206.5 support positions allocated to the territory, Matshazi said, 161 of which are being filled indeterminately. The department has also hired 164 on-call relief employees this year, to fill in for support workers who are on leave.

In the 2025-26 school year, the department approved 75 requests for casual support staff, resulting in 36 hires.

There are fewer casual support staff assigned to Nunavut’s classrooms this year after Inuit Child First Initiative policies changed in February 2025.

That’s when Indigenous Services Canada disqualified funding requests through the initiative for student support assistants. Requests can still be submitted, but they are now considered on a case-by-case basis and approved only in exceptional circumstances.

During the 2024-25 school year, the funding program allowed district education authorities to hire 88 casual student support assistants, adding an extra number to those the Government of Nunavut regularly employs.