Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation
26 Upper Canada

Certification, Experience and Pay

Teachers must ensure that they are paid at the correct salary level. In order to do so, teachers need to understand how they are placed on the salary grid. Employed teachers will be paid in accordance with the Collective Agreement.  A salary grid is a matrix identifying annual salaries based on:

  • Years of experience (vertical movement on grid)
  • Group 1, 2, 3, or 4 (horizontal movement on grid)

In order to be placed in the appropriate group or move up a group, the teacher must obtain a Group Rating Statement from QECO (Qualifications Evaluation Council of Ontario). The Group Rating Statement obtained from QECO is the same rating statement for the secondary panel as for the elementary panel, and therefore the same rating statement can be used for grid placement for both panels. Please see “Understanding Group Rating Statements” for further details.

It is the teacher's responsibility to ensure that the Employer has the necessary information and documents to be placed at the appropriate position on the salary grid. If a change in your Group Rating occurs after July 1, but prior to December 31 in a school year, the teacher shall receive an adjustment in salary retroactive to September 1st of that school year. Teachers who have a change in Group Rating Statement occurring between January 1st and June 30th, will receive an adjustment in salary retroactive to January 1st of that school year. The board will not provide retroactive payment for past years if Group Rating Statements were not submitted to the board when they were received.