By Somya Lohia, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Alberta teachers will learn later this week whether a court will suspend the province’s back-to-work legislation that ended last fall’s strike.
The two-day hearing in the Alberta Court of King’s Bench in Edmonton focused solely on an application for an injunction. If granted, the order would pause the operation of Bill 2, the Back to School Act, until a full hearing determines whether the law is constitutional.
Following an injunction hearing last week, the Alberta Teachers’ Association said the decision now rests with the court on whether Bill 2 should be temporarily halted while its broader legal challenge proceeds.
Ongoing dispute with government
The hearing comes after a turbulent year in Alberta’s education sector. On Oct. 6, 2025, teachers went on strike over contract negotiations, prompting the provincial government to impose a legislated settlement and invoke the notwithstanding clause — a rarely used legal provision — to override certain Charter rights.
The agreement covers the term from Sept. 1, 2024, to Aug. 31, 2028. It includes a 12 per cent salary increase over four years, with additional market adjustments of up to 17 per cent for about 95 per cent of teachers.
The agreement also commits to hiring 3,000 new teachers and 1,500 educational assistants to reduce class sizes and enhance classroom support.
The legislation forced more than 51,000 public, separate and francophone teachers back to work on Oct. 29, 2025, after a 23-day strike.
Following this, the ATA launched a legal challenge against the legislation and the government’s use of the clause. The legal action, filed Nov. 6 in the Alberta Court of King’s Bench, seeks to overturn Bill 2.
The ATA has also filed a complaint with the Alberta Labour Relations Board, alleging unfair bargaining practices, including bad-faith bargaining, by the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association.
In a move announced Dec. 12, the ATA said it had submitted 61 grievances alongside the labour complaint challenging TEBA’s and employers’ interpretation of the Recruitment of Teachers Letter of Understanding.
Court hears injunction request
The ATA is now asking the court to temporarily suspend the Back to School Act while the association’s broader constitutional challenge proceeds later this year.
In a statement issued after the hearing, ATA president Jason Schilling said teachers felt compelled to challenge the legislation after what he described as their rights being removed through the province’s back-to-work law.
“Our injunction application has now been heard, and it is in the hands of the court to determine whether or not Bill 2 will be suspended,” Schilling said, adding that the presiding judge indicated a ruling is expected Friday, March 13.
If the court grants the injunction, the association said teachers would technically return to a legal strike position. However, the ATA told the court that teachers would not resume strike action for three weeks if the ruling is favourable.
Schilling said the association would instead use that time to work toward a negotiated settlement.
“In the interim, we will work to achieve a fair negotiated settlement for teachers, their students and all Albertans,” he said.
If the injunction is denied, Bill 2 will remain in effect while the constitutional challenge continues. A full hearing on the merits of the case is tentatively scheduled for the week of Sept. 21.
Since the legislation was invoked, the association has argued it violates teachers’ fundamental freedoms.
Calling it “egregious and unnecessary,” Schilling said last October that the government’s use of the notwithstanding clause to end the strike had devastated educators across the province.
By Somya Lohia, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Shootin’ The Breeze
