OTBU Executive 2024/2025
| President |
Julia McCrea |
| 1st Vice President |
Art Hanke |
| 2nd Vice President |
Esther Garber |
| Treasurer |
Natasha Sajo |
| Equity, Anti-Oppression, Anti-Racism and Social Justice Lead |
Neeru Gupta |
| Secretary |
Veronika Labib |
Frequently Asked Questions
• $279. 30 is this year’s total daily rate is $279.30.
• 20 assignments: Teachers who wish to remain on the Secondary Occasional Teachers List are now required to work a minimum of twenty assignments in any panel or any role with the DDSB in addition to maintaining their OCT membership and completing the annual Supply Renewal and Offence Declaration forms each June.
• 30 days: The minimum length of an LTO. Board is now required to post and interview for positions where it is known that the absent teacher will be away for 30 days or more.
• Day 10: Teachers on extended daily assignments will now be put on the grid on the 10th day of an assignment.
• Simplication: All hiring is being done through ApplytoEducation’s new Simplication website. Please see your Board email for a message from Recruiting on April 23, 2021 which contains instructions and the link. Your username and password will remain the same and all of your information will still be there.
• DDSB Hiring Guidelines: Since the provincial government repealed Regulation 274, each Board has had to create their own hiring policies, in keeping with Policy/Program Memorandum (PPM) 165, available at www.ontario.ca. The DDSB Hiring Guidelines can be found in Spark, at spark.ddsb.ca, or on the OTBU FAQ page at www.d13.osstf.ca.
• Related Trade Experience: As of February 23, 2021, Tech teachers are now able to request recognition of any related trade experience above what they had used to apply to their Faculty of Education. Contact the District 13 office or hr.services@ddsb.ca for more information about applications and deadlines.
Member Contact List
Receive up to the minute information by adding your name to our Member Contact List.
Send a message from your personal email to julia.mccrea@d13.osstf.ca, and put "Subscribe" in the subject line.
Benefits Plan Options
OTBU Members within an LTO or Extended Occasional assignment of 90 calendar days or more:
The recent Central agreement added a provision allowing OTBU members within an Extended or Long Term assignment of 90 calendar days to join the OSSTF benefits plan. If a teacher has back-to-back assignments or if the gap between assignments is less than nine (9) calendar days, the LTOs will be considered a continuation of the initial assignment in order to meet the 90-calendar day or longer eligibility.
Daily OTs:
If you do not qualify under the conditions above, Occasional Teachers who have worked at least 90 days in the secondary panel in the prior school year will be given the opportunity to participate in the Benefits for Daily Occasional Teachers reimbursement plan for the subsequent year.
For information on both of these options, click here.
Benefits questions can be directed to the OTBU District 13 President Julia McCrea: julia.mccrea@d13.osstf.ca
Benevolent Council
Benevolent Council exists for the purpose of providing assistance to active members who find themselves in extreme financial need due to: (a) prolonged illness; (b) accident; or (c) extreme emergency.
More details can be found on the Benevolent Council page under the useful information menu on the District 13 OSSTF website.
Contact Us
Email: julia.mccrea@d13.osstf.ca
Phone: 905-668-7100
Board Courier: D13 OTBU, 601 Palace St., Whitby, ON
Employment Insurance for Occasional Teachers
The number of hours required
to qualify for employment insurance varies according to the unemployment rate
in a region. Similarly, the number of hours accumulated determines the eligible
number of weeks of EI Benefits. We reached an agreement with the Board
during the last round of bargaining that the Board will continue to report each
teaching day as 8 hours, whether day to day, extended, or LTO. Click here to use
the EI postal code search tool to confirm the number of hours required in each area.
School Boards send ROEs (Record of Employment) directly to EI for all teachers. Teachers can see them by logging onto their Service Canada account. They will be transferred after the last OT pay of the year, the third week in July. They are all transferred at the same time regardless of when your last day worked was.
Click here to
review the information on Service Canada's EI main page before beginning an EI
application. For help and information, visit your local Service Canada
office, or contact them at 1-800-206-7218.
Click here to go to the online EI Application site.
How to maintain your position on the Secondary Occasional Teacher Roster
Towards the end of each school year, the Board reviews the Roster to ensure that teachers are eligible to remain in the coming year. In addition to remaining a member in good standing of the OCT, there are three conditions that each teacher must meet in order to maintain their position on the DDSB Secondary Occasional Teacher Roster.
Minimum Number of Days Worked
The minimum number of assignments worked in any panel or role with the DDSB is 20 per year. The names of all teachers who fail to meet the minimum required number of days may be removed from the Roster in July.
Supply Renewal Forms
The Supply Status form can be found on the DDSB Employee Self Serve Portal and is usually active as of May 30th. Failure to return the form by the June 30th deadline will result in removal from the Roster.
Offence Declaration
The Offence Declaration will also be available on the Employee Self Serve Portal, usually by May 30th. Failure to complete the declaration by the September 15th deadline will result in removal from the Roster.
NTIP
Occasional teachers working their first two LTO contracts of 97 consecutive days are eligible to participate in the New Teacher Induction Program. This program offers access to professional development opportunities as well as a mentor. Information on the NTIP program can be found on DDSB Spark using the following pages:
In particular, look for the document titled
NTIP Resource Handbook. Page 5 of this document includes a flowchart showing eligibility for NTIP.
To access pages posted on the Portal you will need to login using your computer username and password.
Occasional Teachers' Bargaining Unit
The Occasional Teachers' Constitution can be found here.
The Occasional Teachers' Collective Agreement documents can be found here.
DDSB Procedure 5127: Management Process for Risk-of-Injury (Ri) Behaviours
This newly published Board Procedure outlines the requirements and expectations for schools and staff regarding the management and documentation necessary for students with Risk-of-Injury (Ri) Behaviours. Included within the document are requirements to notify occasional staff as well. In particular, see section 8, Notification of RI Behaviours and Staff Absence. The document can be found on the Board Portal.
School Information
The following information may be useful:
Area maps