How to Become a Teacher in Manitoba

Written November 13, 2026

The short answer

To teach in Manitoba public schools you need a teaching certificate from the Professional Certification Unit in Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning. The permanent route runs through a Bachelor of Education: a 150 credit hour integrated five-year program, or 90 undergraduate credit hours followed by a 60 credit hour two-year Bachelor of Education, with set amounts of special education coursework, Aboriginal issues coursework, and student teaching inside it. On top of the degree you file two background checks, a sexual abuse prevention program certificate, official transcripts, and a fee of $100 if you graduated in Manitoba or $150 if you were certified in another province.

Manitoba does not run a college of teachers. The department itself certifies, and the rules sit in the Teaching Certificates and Qualifications Regulation 115/2015.

Step 1: Complete the education

The academic requirements for the Permanent Professional Teaching Certificate are:

• A Bachelor of Education degree program offered in a 150 credit hour integrated five-year program, or a minimum of 90 credit hours in an approved undergraduate program (a three-year program) and a 60 credit hour two-year Bachelor of Education degree program
• 6 credit hours of special education coursework
• 3 credit hours of Aboriginal issues coursework
• 24 weeks (30 credit hours) of student teaching

Manitoba universities offering a Bachelor of Education include Brandon University, the University of Manitoba, Canadian Mennonite University, University College of the North, Université de Saint-Boniface, the University of Winnipeg, and Yellowquill University College. If you do not yet hold a Bachelor of Education or an equivalent, the department's advice is to talk to one of those universities about entry into a Bachelor of Education program rather than applying for certification first.

The Provisional Professional Teaching Certificate sits below the permanent one. It is valid for three years, it carries an expiry date, and the holder is expected to complete the specific requirements for the permanent certificate while holding it. An extension is considered only where the holder can show reasonable efforts toward the permanent qualification. A work visa holder who meets the minimum requirements can hold a provisional certificate until the visa expires; the permanent certificate itself requires Canadian citizenship or landed immigrant (permanent resident) status.

Step 2: Get the checks and the prevention program done

Every applicant files the same core documents. The application process page lists them:

• An original criminal record check including a vulnerable sector search
• An original Manitoba Child Abuse Registry check
• A photocopy of your birth certificate
• A photocopy of proof of Canadian citizenship, landed immigrant status, or a valid work visa (a Canadian birth certificate counts as proof of citizenship)
• A photocopy of a marriage certificate, divorce decree, or official name change document, if applicable
• A photocopy of the teaching certificate or credential from each jurisdiction where you hold one, even if you never taught there
• For technical vocational teachers only, a photocopy of your journeyperson certificate or diploma

Both background checks must be dated within six months of the date PCU received your application and must include all current and past full legal names. Documents stay on file and are not returned, so keep copies before you mail originals.

Effective November 12, 2024, all applicants for teaching and clinician certificates must also complete an approved sexual abuse prevention program. The two approved programs named by PCU are Respect in Schools and Commit to Kids, and you attach the certificate of completion to your application package.

Documents in a language other than English or French need original notarized translations.

Step 3: Transcripts and professional standing

Official transcripts are sent directly to PCU from each university where a degree was awarded or coursework was completed, including all transfer credits. Institutions can also send them by email to PCU, and PCU accepts transcripts through MyCreds. Pick one delivery method, not several.

If you were educated outside Manitoba, PCU also needs an official statement of professional standing mailed directly by every licensing body or education ministry where you are or have been certified, whether or not the certificate has expired. The statement confirms your certificate has never been revoked or cancelled and lists all certificates you have held. It must be less than six months old. This requirement does not apply to Manitoba Bachelor of Education graduates or Manitoba technical vocational graduates.

Post-secondary education completed outside Canada and the United States needs an ICAP course-by-course evaluation by World Education Services (WES), sent directly from WES to PCU. For internationally educated teachers specifically, see Step 5: the Pathways route has replaced the direct WES route for that group.

Step 4: Pay the fee and mail the application

The non-refundable application fee is $100 for a Manitoba Bachelor of Education graduate and $100 for Manitoba technical vocational teacher graduates, and $150 for teachers certified in another province. Payment is by cheque or money order payable to the Minister of Finance, or by Visa or Mastercard using the service request section of the application form. A cheque dishonoured by your bank draws a $20 charge-back fee.

Complete the Teacher Certification Application Form, initial the declaration sections, sign it, and mail the form, documents, and fee to the Professional Certification Unit in Russell, Manitoba, at the address on the application page. Do not contact PCU about the status of your application until you receive a notification from PCU; that email lists any documents still missing.

A certification application stays open for twelve months from the date it is first received. If the required documentation is not provided within those twelve months, the application closes and the fee is not refunded.

Step 5: Coming from another province or another country

Teachers certified elsewhere in Canada apply with their Bachelor of Education, their valid teaching certificate, transcripts, and statements of professional standing. One year of approved teaching experience is the line between the two certificates: with it, plus a certificate that authorizes you to teach all grades or subjects (or limited grades or subjects), you meet the permanent academic requirements; without it, the outcome is the provisional certificate.

Internationally educated teachers start somewhere else. Effective October 31, 2025, all internationally educated applicants complete the Pathways to Teach Canada credential assessment, and PCU no longer accepts WES ICAP course-by-course evaluations directly from WES for this group. When PCU receives your Pathways report, it emails you the teacher certification application form. You then submit the form, fee, and remaining documents by mail, without resending documents already inside your Pathways report.

The academic bar also differs by target certificate. For a permanent certificate, an internationally educated teacher needs an approved teacher preparation program totalling 150 credit hours, including 60 credit hours of professional education coursework that includes student teaching, plus the home-jurisdiction teaching certificate where one exists. For a provisional certificate the totals are 120 credit hours including 30 credit hours of professional coursework with student teaching. Where a program had no practicum, one year of approved teaching experience can be substituted.

If your post-secondary programs were not completed in English or French, you must demonstrate proficiency in English or French, and the Pathways to Teach Canada Language Competency Assessment for the Teaching Profession is the only approved test Manitoba accepts for teaching certificates.

An applicant still outside Canada can be issued a Statement of Eligibility after assessment. It is not a teaching certificate. It is proof of eligibility, and you present it to PCU once you hold a work visa, Canadian citizenship, or landed immigrant status, with a fresh original background check, before the certificate named on it is issued.

What the opened pages do not state

The Manitoba pages opened for this guide state the $100 and $150 application fees, the twelve-month application window, and the credit-hour requirements above. They do not state a processing time for a completed application, a tuition figure for Manitoba Bachelor of Education programs, or a teacher salary — pay is set under school division collective agreements, not by the Professional Certification Unit — so this guide gives none of those. The pages also do not state a separate fee for internationally educated applicants beyond the Pathways and evaluation costs charged by those services themselves.

Related guides:

• How to Become a Teacher in Canada — the national picture: every province certifies its own teachers, and the certificates do not automatically transfer.
• How to Become a Teacher in Ontario — certification through the Ontario College of Teachers, a different body with a different fee structure.
• How to Become a Teacher in Alberta — the neighbouring prairie route, run through Alberta Education rather than a professional certification unit.
• How to Start Getting Your Foreign Teaching Credentials Recognized in Canada — the credential assessment mechanics for teachers trained outside Canada.

Sources

• Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning, Professional Certification — Teaching Certificate: Becoming a Teacher — the Permanent and Provisional Professional Teaching Certificates, the 150 credit hour routes with 6 credit hours of special education, 3 credit hours of Aboriginal issues coursework and 24 weeks of student teaching, the residency rules, the November 12, 2024 sexual abuse prevention requirement, and the Statement of Eligibility.
• Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning, Professional Certification — Application Process — the required documents, both background checks dated within six months, transcripts sent directly by institutions, statements of professional standing, the $100 and $150 fees, the $20 dishonoured-cheque charge, and the twelve-month application window.
• Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning, Professional Certification — Teaching Certification Application Process for Internationally Educated Teachers — the Pathways to Teach Canada assessment required from October 31, 2025, PCU no longer accepting WES ICAP evaluations directly for internationally educated teachers, and the Pathways language assessment as the only approved language test.