Tens of thousands of teachers across Alberta, including more than 2,000 in Calgary, rallied ahead of the start of a province-wide teachers strike set to begin on Oct. 6.

The main message of the rally to remind Albertans that the strike is set to occur because of what teachers say is the need to improve classroom conditions, both for students and teachers.

Stephanie Clements, President for Local 38 for Calgary Public Teachers, said while there was no specific message being sent to the government, there was one for the public.

“It’s a message and a request to our public to show that they’re behind our teachers, and that [teachers] are not doing this because they want to. It’s not about a paycheque. We’re losing money every day that we’re not working. Our future is worth fighting for, especially in public education,” she said.

“There is no strike pay, and teachers are losing a daily wage every time we’re out, every day we’re out, and it’s not about the money. If you think about the work that teachers do, it hasn’t been about the money. We have been underpaid for years. It hasn’t kept up with inflation and but teachers are tired because they can’t do the job anymore with the resources that are available.”

Jason Schilling, President of the Alberta Teachers Association, attended the local rally in Calgary that was held at the McDougall Centre—itself a former school before it became the southern Alberta offices for the provincial government.

“Teachers are looking for real, concrete solutions to the struggles that they’re seeing in their classrooms. They’re also looking for a fair, competitive wage. It’s going to make up for lost inflation, keep up with current inflation, attract and retain teachers in the profession, because teachers are burning out and leaving when it comes to classroom supports,” he said.

Schilling said that despite claims to the contrary by Premier Smith, the ATA had been clear on what they wanted from the province and that was a teacher-to-student ratio with built-in supports for classroom complexity.

He used the example of a kindergarten class having one teacher for 17 students, which could be lowered to 15 if there were multiple students with English as a second language needs.

“The teacher has time to work with the students, to get to know them, to help them thrive,” said Schilling.

Government claims about negotiations not correct says ATA

Premier Smith telling the public that the issue in schools was not one of the number of teachers but of not enough space, he said, was also factually incorrect.

“It’s interesting how they’ve conflated this announcement they made to build these new schools into the contract talks for teachers. Because they’ve underfunded public education for so long that we know that there is not enough space, but there’s also not enough teachers,” said Schilling.

“We have the highest ratio of teachers per student in all of Canada. We’re also the least funded. So we hold two distinctions in that regard. The government’s not hired enough teachers over the years as student enrollment has happened. She could talk about space, but schools will get creative too if you get people in buildings working with kids.”

That creative use of finding space may have allowed for more students to be placed into schools, but the effects from that has led to students being taught in former storage spaces and hallways.

Evan Li, a Grade 12 International Baccalaureate student whose mic being cut at the Calgary Alberta Next panel became a cause célèbre, spoke at the rally against the increased classroom sizes.

“The administration of our schools work tirelessly to provide for students, and our wonderful teachers continue to be role models in our lives. The problem is simple, there are not enough resources in Alberta’s schools, and this is definitely recognized by any student, any parent who was sitting in a school last week. At schools across the city of Calgary, class sizes rarely dip below 35 students, and some of my peers are in classes with up to 50 or 60,” he said.

“The lack of a class size limit ever being mentioned is significantly concerning, one of the hallmark fears that many of us grade 12 students have… you know, I have a friend who doesn’t even know the names of every person in his class.”

Amanda Chapman, MLA for Calgary-Beddington and Shadow Minister for Education, said that the solution to the staffing problem and the space problem was a government that prioritized both.

“That’s the only thing that’s going to be able to relieve classroom sizes is a government that will prioritize building the schools we need. The staffing issue is how we are going to address complexity in the classroom. We have complex learners who simply are not getting the supports they deserve, and that impacts the entire classroom. So, both things are needed. We need the staff and we need the space,” she said.

Government runs media campaign ahead of strike

Ahead of the strike, the province had been running a widespread media campaign to tell Albertans their side of the education issue that was running on local television, radio, social media, and even international podcasts downloaded by Albertans.

(The ATA has also run advertising campaigns in 2025, with one called “Stop the Excuses,” and another called “Take a Number” to get their message out to Albertans well in advance of this year’s labour action.)

In the provincial ads, the GOA has said that they have invested an additional $8.6 billion to build 130 new schools, and $2.3 billion to hire an additional 3,000 new teachers.

Clements said that she and other teachers were fed up with the advertising.

“We want our message out there, and are a bit fed up that my tax money is being used towards funding ads. It’s like a David and Goliath situation that we don’t have the means to fight. So, I think this [rally] is a message to show the number of to show everyone that you know what? We’re not just standing by ourselves,” she said.

Chapman, for her part, said that there was better use of millions of dollars of taxpayer money than to throw teachers under the bus.

“I think that a better use of the government’s funding, rather than spending advertising dollars trying to throw our teachers under the bus, would be to invest that money in our public education system. Well, the only reason that they need to spend $8.6 billion on schools is because they have neglected infrastructure spending for so many years,” she said.

“Advertising their own failure is an interesting take for them to make. But no, I would suggest that paying for that advertising is not where their focus needs to be. The focus needs to be on how we improve our classrooms.”

Schilling said that the takeaway for Calgarians was that teachers want a negotiated settlement that was fair, and that all sides could agree upon.

“But we need to make sure that we’re having serious conversations about addressing the issues that everybody who came here today is talking about. I mean, you can’t ignore 20,000 plus people in Edmonton and the thousands of people who showed up here today and say, ‘well, we don’t know what’s happening in our schools?’ Maybe get out and get into some of those schools and start finding out what is actually going on,” he said.