SASKATOON, SK: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is highlighting the facts on teacher compensation as the union representing Saskatchewan teachers prepares to strike.

“Teachers are already being paid well above the provincial average, with taxpayers topping up their pensions and health plans to boot,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director. “Now, the teacher’s union is giving parents a headache because it wants to squeeze more money out of the provincial government.

According to the provincial government, the average teacher in Saskatchewan makes $92,000 a year, compared to $90,300 in the rest of Western Canada. The average Saskatchewanian earns about $61,000 per year.

Schools in the province average 190 school days a year. This means teachers are earning $484 per day for each day they are at work, or about $60 an hour based on a typical eight-hour workday. Teacher salary and benefits made up 50 per cent of total school division spending in 2021.

The provincial government is currently offering the STF a seven per cent salary increase. The STF also wants to negotiate on government spending on other issues, such as class sizes.

“Teachers can’t have their cake and eat it too,” Haubrich said. “When half of school division budgets are spent paying teachers, it doesn’t leave room for much else.”