Becoming a Teacher in Canada Checklist
Becoming a teacher in Canada is a provincial job from start to finish: finish your degrees, then get certified in the one province where you will teach.
How to Become a Teacher in Ontario
Ontario teachers are certified by the Ontario College of Teachers: a postsecondary degree of at least three years, a four-semester teacher education program with at least 80 days of practice teaching, a $140 registration fee, and a $200 annual membership fee.
Applies in: Ontario
The short answer
To teach in Ontario's publicly funded schools you need a licence from the Ontario College of Teachers, called a Certificate of Qualification and Registration. The College certifies you on two blocks of education — a degree of at least three years and a four-semester teacher education program with at least 80 days of practice teaching — plus identity, a criminal record check, language proficiency, and its Sexual Abuse Prevention Program. Application costs $140, or $362 if you were educated outside Ontario, and the annual membership fee is $200.
Step 1: Earn the degree
For general education, the College's academic requirement is a postsecondary degree (a BA or BSc, for example) that includes the equivalent of at least three years of full-time study, or 90 credits, beyond the Ontario secondary school diploma. The degree must come from an accredited postsecondary institution acceptable to the College. If you are already certified in another Canadian jurisdiction, the College treats that requirement as met.
Technological education is the exception to the degree rule. Teachers of tech and trades subjects qualify through a secondary school diploma, an acceptable certificate, diploma or advanced diploma, and work experience, alongside teacher education — the Government of Ontario's qualifications page sets out both routes.
Step 2: Complete teacher education
The professional requirement is an acceptable program of teacher education of at least four semesters. The College describes the program as covering education foundations (the history, philosophy and psychology of education), teaching methods for two teaching qualifications, and practice teaching of at least 80 days, supervised by the program provider.
The two-qualification rule shapes your program choice. Basic Qualifications identify the divisions you can teach: Primary (Kindergarten to Grade 3), Junior (Grades 4 to 6), Intermediate (Grades 7 to 10) and Senior (Grades 11 to 12), or Technological Education (Grades 9 to 10 and 11 to 12). You must be qualified in at least two consecutive divisions, such as Primary/Junior, Junior/Intermediate or Intermediate/Senior. In Ontario, applications to faculties of education go through the Teacher Education Application Service (TEAS).
Still in your program? After 30 credits and 40 practicum days, with a report from your faculty of education, you can apply for a Transitional Certificate of Qualification and Registration, valid 18 months with a possible one-time six-month extension, and teach while you finish.
Step 3: Apply to the College
Apply only when you can submit the initial requirements together, because the College's process expects them up front:
- Proof of identity, and proof of a name change if applicable
- An original Canadian criminal record check report — a vulnerable sector check is not required
- Proof of language proficiency test scores, if you are using test scores to meet that requirement
- The $140 registration fee
You submit some documents yourself; institutions send others. Your teacher education program and postsecondary institutions send your transcripts (and, where applicable, verification letters) directly. Internationally educated applicants also arrange a statement of professional standing from each jurisdiction that certified them, and translations of any document not in English or French.
Your application stays valid for one year from the date you submit it.
Step 4: Fees, language, and the prevention program
The fee structure splits by where you were educated. The College's applicant update states a non-refundable registration fee of $140 for all applicants, plus a non-refundable evaluation fee of $222 for all applicants educated outside Ontario — $362 in total for that group.
You do not pay the annual membership fee at application. When the College finishes processing and finds you eligible for certification, it emails you to request the membership fee; within one business day of receiving that payment you are licensed as an Ontario Certified Teacher in good standing. The College's own fee comparison puts the annual membership fee at $200; it is due January 1 each year, with payments accepted until April 15, and many teachers pay it through payroll deduction.
Two professional requirements sit alongside the paperwork: proficiency in English or French, and successful completion of the College's Sexual Abuse Prevention Program. The registration guide also notes you are not required to pass the Math Proficiency Test to be certified — a point that still circulates as a rumour among applicants.
Step 5: Coming from another province or another country
Teachers certified elsewhere in Canada are assessed as labour mobility applicants. Since January 1, 2026, they can also request deemed certification while completing the online application: certification as of right for up to six months, no extension, with all required documents due to the Registrar's satisfaction before the six months expire. You are not eligible if you applied to the College before January 1, 2026.
Internationally educated teachers face the longest version of the process. The College does its own credential assessment — the Pathways to Teach Canada assessment report that several other provinces accept is not accepted in Ontario — so transcripts, verification letters, statements of professional standing and language proficiency evidence all feed the College's own evaluation, at the $362 combined application cost.
What the opened pages do not state
The College pages state the registration fee, the evaluation fee and the $200 annual membership fee used above, and the registration guide states the 80-day practice teaching minimum. They do not publish a single processing time that applies to every application stream, a tuition figure for Ontario teacher education programs, or a starting salary — pay is set by school board collective agreements, not by the College — so this guide gives none of those.
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 Get Your Foreign Credentials Recognized in Ontario — the assessment and bridging mechanics around any Ontario regulated profession.
- How to Apply for OSAP in Ontario — student funding for the degree and teacher education years.
- How to Become a Pharmacy Technician in Ontario — another Ontario College, another licence: the health-professions version of the same pattern.
Getting certified to teach in Ontario, in five steps
- Earn a postsecondary degreeA degree of at least three years of full-time study, or 90 credits, from an institution acceptable to the College.
- Complete a teacher education programAt least four semesters, with a minimum of 80 days of practice teaching, qualifying you in two consecutive divisions.
- Apply to the Ontario College of TeachersSubmit proof of identity, an original Canadian criminal record check, transcripts sent by your institutions, and the $140 registration fee.
- Meet the remaining College requirementsLanguage proficiency in English or French and the Sexual Abuse Prevention Program, plus a $222 evaluation fee if you were educated outside Ontario.
- Pay the annual membership fee and teachThe annual membership fee is $200. Once the College receives it, an eligible applicant is licensed as an Ontario Certified Teacher within one business day.
Questions people ask
Who certifies teachers in Ontario?
The Ontario College of Teachers, the self-regulatory body for the teaching profession in Ontario. To teach in a publicly funded elementary or secondary school you must be a member in good standing of the College, and your Certificate of Qualification and Registration is your licence to teach.
What education do I need to teach in Ontario?
Two pieces. First, a postsecondary degree of at least three years of full-time study (90 credits) from an accredited institution acceptable to the College. Second, an acceptable teacher education program of at least four semesters, covering education foundations and teaching methods for two teaching qualifications, with a minimum of 80 days of supervised practice teaching.
How much does Ontario College of Teachers certification cost?
The registration fee is $140 for all applicants and is non-refundable. Applicants educated outside Ontario also pay a $222 evaluation fee, for a total of $362 at application. The annual membership fee, paid once the College finds you eligible for certification, is $200 a year, due January 1 with payment accepted until April 15.
Can I teach while I am still finishing my teacher education program?
Yes, partway through. The Transitional Certificate of Qualification and Registration is designed for teacher candidates who have completed at least 30 credits and 40 practicum days of their initial teacher education program, with a report from their faculty of education. It is valid for 18 months, with a possible one-time six-month extension, and you must keep your College membership in good standing while you hold it.
I was trained as a teacher outside Canada. What changes?
The College assesses your credentials itself. The credential assessment report from Pathways to Teach Canada is not accepted by the Ontario College of Teachers, so expect to pay the $222 evaluation fee on top of the $140 registration fee, have your institutions send transcripts and verification letters directly, provide a statement of professional standing from every jurisdiction where you were certified, and show English or French language proficiency where required.
I am certified in another Canadian province. Can I teach in Ontario?
Yes, through labour mobility, and a new route opened on January 1, 2026. Amendments to the Ontario Labour Mobility Act, 2009 let teachers certified in other Canadian jurisdictions request deemed certification as of right, valid for up to six months, while they complete their full application. Deemed certification cannot be extended past the six months, and applicants pay the one-time registration fee plus the annual membership fee.
Sources
- Ontario College of Teachers, How We Certify Teachers — the Certificate of Qualification and Registration as the licence to teach, the Basic Qualifications divisions, and the Transitional Certificate with its 30 credits, 40 practicum days and 18-month validity.
- Ontario College of Teachers, Important update for new College applicants — the $140 registration fee, the $222 evaluation fee for applicants educated outside Ontario, the documents required at application, and membership fee payment on eligibility.
- Ontario College of Teachers, Registration Guide for Becoming a General Education Teacher in Ontario — the three-year, 90-credit degree requirement, the four-semester teacher education program, and the minimum 80 days of practice teaching.
- Ontario College of Teachers, How Our Fees Compare — the $200 annual membership fee, due January 1 with payment accepted until April 15.
- Ontario College of Teachers, Deemed Certification — the January 1, 2026 as-of-right deemed certification for teachers certified in other Canadian jurisdictions, valid up to six months with no extension.
- Government of Ontario, Qualifications for teaching in Ontario — certification by the College as the condition for teaching in publicly funded schools, and the technological education route.