Office of Teacher Certification

Teaching Service / Salary

 

Sections 20-30 of the Governor-in-Council Education Act Regulations provide for the recognition of teaching service for salary increment purposes:

Please note that salary determination and administration is the responsibility of an employing regional centre for education/CSAP in the province of Nova Scotia.

The Office of Teacher Certification is responsible for maintaining a record of individual teaching service accrued by each certified teacher in the province. As part of this responsibility, the Office of Teacher Certification will assess teaching service accrued elsewhere and maintain a cumulative record of all teaching service for certified teachers.

Employing regional centres for education/CSAP in Nova Scotia will use a record of teaching service produced by the Office of Teacher Certification along with a teacher's certificate classification to determine where a teacher should be placed on a relevant salary scale. Please see the link to teacher salary scales in Nova Scotia below:

Salary Grid 2023-2026

A teacher who is looking to transfer service from another jurisdiction to Nova Scotia should ensure they comply with the instructions found at the following link to ensure service is reviewed by the Office of Teacher Certification:

https://certification.ednet.ns.ca/how-get-teaching-service-assessed-recognition

 

Please review the Commonly Asked Questions below regarding teaching service.

 

How many days of teaching are required for a year of recognized teaching service?

 

Within one school year, 175 or more days of teaching are considered to constitute one full year of teaching service for purposes of the step-on-scale salary calculations.

If the service completed totals less than 175 days within a given school year, teaching days still accumulate but, in this situation, 195 days are required to constitute a full year of service.

 

 

How may I obtain recognition of teaching service completed outside the Nova Scotia Public School System?

 

The recognition of teaching service completed outside the public schools of Nova Scotia is governed by the Governor-In-Council Education Act Regulations referenced above.

If you have completed teaching service recognized in the regulations, this service may be counted for salary increment purposes. Verification of this service must come directly from the agency responsible for maintaining teaching service records in that jurisdiction (ie. School board/district).

Generally, this verification would be supplied by school boards, however, in some jurisdictions - New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories, Manitoba, and Nunavut, this is a responsibility of the Department of Education.

Verification of service must state the number of teaching days/teaching months in the school year, the specific school years of employment (eg 2005-2006), the number of days and/or teaching months completed each year, and must be forwarded to the Office of Teacher Certification.

 

Whom should I contact for salary information?

 

This process may involve several steps. Probably the most organized procedure would be to:

  • Check the salary grid information (within the Teacher's Collective Agreement).
  • If you are still not satisfied, check with your local regional centre for education/CSAP as to the reason for your current rate of pay.
  • If the problem concerns teaching service records, then you should contact the Office of Teacher Certification via:

Phone: (902) 424 - 6620

Mailing Address:

Office of Teacher Certification
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
P. O. Box 578
Halifax, N. S.
B3J 2S9