It’s not a crisis yet, but the high cost of housing could dissuade new teachers from moving to School District 43 in the future.
At least that’s the worry of Ken Christensen, Coquitlam Teachers’ Association, president.
While he agrees that the district is in good shape from a hiring perspective, there are challenges attracting people with qualifications for jobs such as French Immersion, technology education and specialist teachers, such as counsellors.
“In specialty areas, attracting people is always a challenge,” Christensen said.
And while he isn’t worried that the district will lose talented teachers to other districts in the Lower Mainland, he has witnessed a bit of a brain drain to districts outside of the metro area where housing costs are cheaper
New teachers, whose starting salary is $48,000, have some tough choices to make if they want to be able to support themselves, Christensen said. “The cost of living between Coquitlam and Richmond is parity but it’s expensive and it’s definitely putting pressure on some of our younger teachers.”
Some seasoned teachers are even considering a job move to more rural areas to save money, another reason the district has to recruit constantly to maintain a pool of qualified staff, he said.
“They are saying I just can’t get ahead here, but if I get a job in Courtenay, I can make a life for myself.”
But the district should’t worry, Christensen said. “It’s not a tsunami, by far there’s more people coming in and then going out, this is a good place to work.”
According to the Canadian Rental Housing Index, the average monthly rent and utilities in Coquitlam is $1,217 per month, higher than the B.C. average at $1,148, so if they aren’t living at home, new teachers just out of university will likely be sharing basement suites to be close to their jobs.
