Special Education Teacher

What special education teachers make

Job Bank's national median is $43.27 an hour, about $90,000 a year at 40 hours a week, with a low of $26.67 and a high of $56.59. Job Bank files this job under NOC (National Occupational Classification) 41221, elementary school and kindergarten teachers, so the figures cover that whole group. You are paid on the ordinary teacher salary grid: years of experience across, qualifications down. Special education does not get a separate pay scale in most boards, it gets you hired faster.

How provinces compare

New Brunswick ($37.98) and Alberta ($38.46) have the lowest provincial medians. The Northwest Territories is higher than any province at $61.06. Your first year or two may be supply work before a contract.

Starting pay

From the province's teachers' agreement. Every province has its own grid, and special education teachers are paid on the same one. Pay rises with years of experience, and extra qualification courses and a master's degree move you to a higher column.

What it costs to get there

Total tuition is usually $36,000 to $62,000, plus the qualification courses. Many boards pay part of the cost of qualification courses once you are on staff.

Benefits

• A defined-benefit pension

  One that pays a set amount every month for life. Teachers belong to a provincial teachers' pension plan.

• Summers, winter break and March break

  About 12 weeks a year with schools closed.

• Strong union protection and generous sick leave

• Job security once you have a permanent contract

The path to becoming a special education teacher, step by step

Become a teacher first. The specialty is added on top, after you are certified. Quebec has its own route: tap Quebec route to add it.

1. 1

   High school

   Grades 11 and 12

   Any academic path. Psychology, biology and English all help later.

2. 2

   Bachelor's degree

   3 to 4 years

   Any subject for elementary. For high school you need enough credits in two teachable subjects. Psychology and child development courses are a good fit.

3. 3

   Bachelor of Education (B.Ed)

   1 to 2 years

   Ontario requires four semesters. Most other provinces are 1 to 2 years. Includes practicum placements, and you can ask for a special education placement.

4. 4

   Certification

   A few weeks

   Register with your province's teacher regulator, for example the Ontario College of Teachers.

5. 5

   Special education qualification

   2 to 4 years, part time

   In Ontario this is a three-part Additional Qualification (AQ). Part 1 needs only your teaching certificate. Part 2 needs a year of teaching. The Specialist needs two years, including one year teaching special education.

High school courses that help you become a special education teacher

• English

  Reading, writing and how children learn to do both is the core of the job.

• Psychology or social sciences

  Learning disabilities, autism and behaviour are all in here.

• Biology

  Useful for understanding medical and developmental conditions.

• A co-op or volunteer placement

  Time with kids who have disabilities is what admissions committees look for.

Time and money, at a glance

Regulated in every province

You need a teaching certificate from your province to work in a public school, and only the regulator can issue it. The specialty itself is a set of qualification courses recorded on your certificate, not a separate licence. Certificates move between provinces under the national labour mobility agreement, sometimes with conditions, but your special education courses may need to be re-assessed. In Ontario, a student's supports are set out in an Individual Education Plan, and placement decisions go through a committee called the Identification, Placement and Review Committee.

Qualifications that open the best jobs

• Special Education Specialist

  The third part of the qualification. Required for most resource and coordinator postings.

• Teaching students who are deaf or hard of hearing

  A separate qualification with its own programs. Very few teachers hold it, and provincial schools recruit for it.

• Teaching students who are blind or have low vision

  Same story: rare, specialized, and hired directly.

• Applied behaviour analysis training

  Known as ABA (applied behaviour analysis). Increasingly expected in autism-focused classrooms.

Nice-to-haves

• Master of Education (M.Ed)

  Moves you to the top salary column and is the usual step before board-level or leadership roles.

• American Sign Language

  Opens deaf education and makes you useful in any board.

• Assistive technology skills

  Speech to text, reading software, communication devices. Teachers who can set these up are in short supply.

• Crisis prevention certification

  Standard for teachers in behaviour-focused classrooms.

The resource teacher route

Not every special education teacher has their own class. Many work as resource or learning support teachers: no homeroom, a caseload of students across the school, and time spent writing plans, testing, and coaching other teachers on how to adapt their lessons. It is less crowd control and more case management, and it is usually where experienced special education teachers end up.

What a special education teacher does day to day

In a self-contained class, a small group of students with high needs, all day, with assistants beside you. In a resource role, a schedule of pull-out groups and classroom visits between meetings with parents, psychologists and speech pathologists. Either way the paperwork is real: education plans to write, goals to track, evidence to file. Some days are a breakthrough with a kid who has been stuck for months. Some days are a full-blown crisis at 9:15am.

The honest pros and cons of being a special education teacher

Work life

Similar paths

• TeacherElementary or high school. A pension, summers off, and a salary grid that climbs for about ten years.
• Educational AssistantWork one on one with the students who need the most help. One year of college gets you into a school.
• Speech-Language PathologistHelp people speak, understand and swallow safely. A master's degree, then schools, hospitals or your own clinic.

Ontario recognizes 12 exceptionalities

Ontario groups special education needs into 5 categories and 12 named exceptionalities, from autism and learning disabilities to blindness. Giftedness counts as one too, so gifted programs are special education.

A shortage is expected

Canada had 337,300 elementary and kindergarten teachers in 2023, the group Job Bank files special education teachers under. Its projection to 2033 warns of a moderate risk that there will not be enough of them.

Ten days makes you a real teacher

In Nova Scotia, a substitute who covers the same teacher for more than 10 school days in a row is paid as a regular teacher for every one of those days.