How to Become a Teacher in Saskatchewan

Written November 13, 2026

The short answer

Finish Grade 12, a bachelor's degree, and a teacher education program of at least 48 semester hours including an extended practicum, then apply online to the Saskatchewan Professional Teachers Regulatory Board for a Saskatchewan teacher's certificate. Certification in Saskatchewan belongs to the SPTRB — not to the Ministry of Education, not to a teachers' federation, and not to the university that trained you — and a working teacher must also register with the Board annually.

Saskatchewan's system rewards reading the certificate types before you apply. The Board issues more than one kind of certificate, and the one your training supports decides what you may teach.

Step 1: Meet the academic requirements

The Board's certification page sets three requirements for a Saskatchewan teacher's certificate: completion of Grade 12 or equivalent; completion of four years of post-secondary education with a bachelor's degree; and completion of a teacher education program of at least 48 semester hours of teacher education that includes an extended practicum, together with a teaching certificate from the jurisdiction where the teacher education was completed, where that applies.

The teacher education program can be a Bachelor of Education degree, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education, or a Certificate in Education. One qualification catches applicants whose program was not itself a degree: if your undergraduate teacher education program did not result in the conferral of a degree, you must also hold a bachelor degree — three or four years — in addition to the teacher education program. The detailed academic rules sit in Schedule F of the SPTRB Regulatory Bylaws, which the Board points applicants to for the full requirements.

Two planning points follow. First, the 48 semester hours and the extended practicum are the floor the Board certifies against, so a shorter education credential, however strong, does not convert into a Saskatchewan certificate by itself. Second, the degree and the teacher education are separate tests: holding one without the other leaves the application incomplete.

Step 2: Apply online to the SPTRB, with a fresh background check

Certification is an application to the Board, made online. The Board's position, stated on its certification page, is that to teach in Saskatchewan's prekindergarten to Grade 12 education system you must hold a Saskatchewan teacher's certificate issued by the SPTRB, that certificates are also required in registered independent schools and may be required in schools operated by First Nations, and that teachers holding a certificate who are working as teachers must register annually with the Board.

For Saskatchewan-trained applicants, the sequence in the application guidance is: create an account on the Board's site, apply — Saskatchewan guidance suggests applying within three months of completing your teacher education program — and upload the required documents, because applications are not processed until all required documents are received. The documents include identification showing your full legal name, such as a birth certificate or passport, change of name documentation where your name has changed, official transcripts, and the background check.

The background check has a timing rule that catches spring graduates every year. A criminal record check and a vulnerable sector search are required as part of the application and must be completed within three months prior to certification. Guidance for University of Saskatchewan and University of Regina education students puts the practical consequence plainly: a check done too early — the example given is one issued in December for a May graduation — will not be accepted, because it does not fall within the three months; for spring graduates the check should be dated February 1 or later. If a check result is incomplete or shows a possible match, the applicant will be required to request a fingerprint comparison from their local law enforcement authority. You can check the status of an application online by logging in to your SPTRB profile.

Teachers certified in another Canadian jurisdiction follow the mobility version of the same gate: the Board states that if you hold a teaching certificate from another Canadian jurisdiction, you will qualify for a Saskatchewan teacher's certificate subject to Saskatchewan certification requirements and policies, including conduct, language proficiency, and currency of practice. Mobility changes the assessment; it does not remove the Saskatchewan application.

Step 3: Take the certificate your training supports

The Board's certificate list is the map of Saskatchewan teaching routes:

• Professional A Certificate — eligibility to teach all subjects to students in all grades in Saskatchewan schools. A degree and four years of post-secondary education above an equivalent Saskatchewan Grade 12 are the basic requirements. This is the standard certificate a Saskatchewan Bachelor of Education graduate is aiming at; the University of Saskatchewan notes its Bachelor of Education is designed to meet the requirements for a Professional A Teaching Certificate, with prospective teachers applying directly to the SPTRB.
• Professional B Certificate — eligibility to teach a specified subject, and related subjects, in all grades. The basic requirements are a degree in an approved area of specialization, or equivalent, plus 48 semester hours of professional education including a practicum.
• Vocational Certificate — a specified subject in all grades, on the basis of senior matriculation (Grade 12), a journeyperson's certificate or approved training in a trade, plus one year of teacher education including a practicum.
• Technical Certificate — a specified subject in all grades, on the basis of Grade 12, two years of study in a defined technology at the post-secondary level, two years of work experience, plus one year of teacher education including a practicum.
• Probationary B Certificate — eligibility to teach at a specified independent school only. A registered independent school board must apply on the person's behalf with an Authorization to Teach form and a rationale statement, and holders do not qualify for any other permanent or provisional certificate through this route.
• Temporary Teaching Permit (TTP) — eligibility to teach a specific subject or grades, or to substitute teach, with a specific employer that cannot fill the assignment with a certified and registered teacher. A TTP is valid only for the school year in which it was issued and only for that employer, and its basic requirements are high school graduation plus some post-secondary education or a specialized skill, with the employer providing the authorization to teach and proof the position was advertised.

Later in a career, certificated teachers can add an Additional Qualification Certificate (AQC), which enables teachers to upgrade their classification. A Professional A Certificate is required to qualify, a master's degree is not recognized as an AQC, and the Board's assessment fee for an AQC is $57.75 including GST, non-refundable, assessed from official transcripts under Schedule E of the Regulatory Bylaws once a formal online application is made.

Step 4: Register annually, and keep the certificate valid

The certificate and the annual registration are two different obligations. The Board states that teachers who have been issued a teacher's certificate and are working as teachers are required to register annually with the SPTRB, and it grounds the employment rule in Section 198 of the Education Act, 1995: no person shall be engaged, appointed, employed, or retained as a teacher or principal in any school unless that person holds a valid teacher's certificate. Application guidance for working teachers puts the annual step concretely: maintain certification by completing the annual registration renewal and paying the associated fee through your SPTRB account.

In practice this means a Saskatchewan teacher's compliance calendar never empties. Certification is earned once; registration is renewed every year you teach; and an employer hiring you into a Saskatchewan classroom is hiring against both.

If you trained outside Canada

Do not start at the SPTRB. The Board's international page sets a three-step order, and step three cannot begin until the first two are finished.

First, apply to Pathways to Teach Canada for a credential assessment report: all post-secondary coursework completed outside Canada must be assessed by Pathways, including the transcripts for your completed teacher education program and all other post-secondary coursework — courses not leading to a credential, certificates, degrees, master's, and doctoral coursework — with transcripts from the original institution wherever transfer credits were awarded. Pathways is an independent organization, and the Board states its staff cannot advise on the Pathways application process or status.

Second, take the language test if you need one. If your first language is not English or French, and you have never completed a post-secondary degree or certificate entirely in English or French, you must complete the language test administered through Pathways before applying to the SPTRB — the Board states it accepts only that test and does not accept TOEFL, IELTS, or any other language proficiency examination.

Third, apply to the SPTRB, only after the Pathways assessment reports are complete. The Board lists an online application form and fee of $267.75, non-refundable and non-transferrable, with applications deleted if payment is not received within three months; government-issued identification in the form of a birth certificate or a valid passport with your full legal name; change of name documents where applicable; and any transcripts from post-secondary schooling taken in Canada sent directly to the Board from the issuing institution. A Certification Analyst reviews the file once documents are received and emails the applicant with the additional documents required — the Board instructs applicants not to send documents that have not been requested. Documents other than transcripts that are not in English or French need an English translation from an approved source. Once all required documentation has been submitted, processing of an international application takes up to 50 business days, and an assessment decision can be appealed within 40 days of the assessment email.

What the opened pages do not state

The SPTRB pages opened for this guide state the international application fee and the Additional Qualification Certificate assessment fee, and Saskatchewan university guidance states the graduate application fee, but the Board pages opened here do not state a single consolidated fee schedule covering every applicant category or the current annual registration fee for working teachers. This guide therefore does not carry an annual registration figure. Confirm the fee for your category, and the annual registration amount, on the SPTRB site when you apply. The pages also do not state a processing time for a complete Saskatchewan-trained application, so this guide gives none; the 50-business-day figure carried above applies to international applications only.

Related guides:

• How to Become a Teacher in Canada — the national picture: every province and territory certifies its own teachers.
• How to Become a Teacher in Alberta — the neighbouring province's certification route.
• How to Become a Teacher in British Columbia — British Columbia's teacher regulation route.
• How to Become a Teacher in Ontario — Ontario's college certification route.

Sources

• Saskatchewan Professional Teachers Regulatory Board, Types of Certificates — the Professional A, Professional B, Vocational, Technical, and Probationary B Certificates and the Temporary Teaching Permit with their basic requirements and scopes, and the Additional Qualification Certificate rules including the $57.75 assessment fee.
• Saskatchewan Professional Teachers Regulatory Board, Frequently Asked Questions — the certification requirements of Grade 12 or equivalent, four years of post-secondary education with a bachelor's degree, and at least 48 semester hours of teacher education including an extended practicum, with a pointer to Schedule F of the Regulatory Bylaws.
• Saskatchewan Professional Teachers Regulatory Board, International Teacher Education Program — the Pathways to Teach Canada credential assessment for all coursework completed outside Canada, the language test condition and the rule that no other language examination is accepted, the $267.75 online application fee, the identification and transcript requirements, the analyst review process, the translation rules, the up-to-50-business-day processing timeline, and the 40-day appeal window.
• University of Saskatchewan, College of Education — Graduation and Teacher Certification — applying during the final year, certification only once grades are on transcripts, the $105 Saskatchewan graduate application fee and the optional $105 Pre-B.Ed. assessment, the criminal record check and vulnerable sector search within three months prior to certification, and applications not being processed until all documents are received.