This year, ETFO completed a review of its programs for women and 
a priority emerged to identify women who are interested in leader-
ship and provide mentorship for them. Strong women leaders are 
needed in a union where 81 percent of its members are women. 
Many ETFO women members have already benefited from formal 
and informal mentoring by other women in leadership positions.

As you will read in this Annual Report, ETFO is active on many 
social justice and equity issues. The Spirit Horse tour this spring 
developed an understanding among teachers and students of First 
Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) cultural and historical perspec-
tives and a number of new FNMI resources were developed. The 
PrideHouse That Kids Built raised awareness around inclusion in 
sport in the lead-up to and during the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/
Parapan Am Games. ETFO and its locals also made significant 
donations around the world to public education and to relief funds 
for Nepal and for the Ebola crisis.

Action to Meet Member Needs

As part of its priorities, ETFO provides learning opportunities for all 
members whatever their role or interest: classroom teacher, occa-
sional teacher, PSP, DECE, local leader, chief negotiator or member 
of an equity-seeking group. We do this by seeking out, listening 
to and responding to feedback from local leaders and members 
through both informal and formal processes such as verbal or writ-
ten feedback, surveys, internal program reviews and focus groups.

This past year, ETFO strove to innovate in all areas. For example, 
the ETFO Local Leader Virtual Academy provided a series of interac-
tive webinars to enhance leaders’ knowledge on topics such as IEPs 
and the reporting process, pensions, pregnancy/parental leaves 
and reporting serious student safety incidents. The Webinar series 
was the first to use ETFO’s new web-based Events Management 
System (EMS) for online registration. The EMS will allow for the con-
solidation of ETFO’s events management processes into a single 
integrated system, making it easier for members to register for 
programs, workshops and conferences. 

For Professional Relations Services (PRS) we added more presenta-
tions, implemented alternative modes of training, adapted training 
and reallocated staff to meet a growing demand for PRS work-
shops. For example, the number of pregnancy and parental leave 

workshops increased approximately 25% from 
last year and the creation of a webcast augment-
ed our outreach. An additional PRS staff member 
was assigned to assist with additional pension 
workshops which were scheduled in the spring.

Collective Bargaining Services (CB) implemented a 
number of new bargaining-related training initia-
tives this year. Along with the ETFO Local Leader 
Virtual Academy, this year’s Collective Bargaining 
Conference, Navigating Uncharted Waters, was 
revised to meet the needs of both experienced 
and novice participants. 

This past year, a focus for Professional 
Development/Learning Services (PD/L) was in 
the areas of technology and math. PD/L offered 
two Ministry-funded Information Communication 
Technology (ICT) conferences as well as Connected 
Communities, a series of online professional 
learning sessions on math- and technology-relat-
ed topics. Revisions were made to Classroom 
Management That Works for the Occasional Teacher. 
The workshop has now been structured as a two-
part series with a greater focus on reflective prac-
tice and teacher professional judgment.

Equity and Women’s Services (EWS) offered 
Re-thinking White Privilege workshops for the first 
time this year and a resource on this topic is in 
development. New women’s programs for 2015-
16 will include a mentoring program for women, 
an online networking site for racialized and FNMI 
women and a women’s advanced leadership pro-
gram in conjunction with the Canadian Labour 
Congress (CLC) summer school. 

ETFO’s goal is to continue to offer programs 
and services that provide the types of supports 
members and locals need to succeed in your 
classrooms, your workplaces and in your union.

Victoria Réaume 

ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO

REPORT TO THE 2015 ANNUAL MEETING

Advancing and Protecting Our Union, Our Values and Our Profession

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