Classes are cancelled for more than 40,000 high school students in Peel Region Monday as secondary school teachers at the Peel District School Board officially went on strike at around 12:30 a.m.

“Since we cannot ensure the safety of students during a secondary teachers' strike, we have no choice but to close all Peel board secondary schools (grades 9 to 12) to students as of May 4. Please do not send your teen to school during the strike,” the school board said on its website early Monday.

The move comes after talks broke down between the Ontario Secondary School teachers Federation and the board after a midnight strike deadline.

The two parties talked throughout the weekend and late into Sunday night, hoping to carve out a deal.

However the OSSTF informed the board early Monday that all secondary teachers and secondary occasional teachers would be on strike as of Monday.

Due to the strike, the following measures will be in place as of Monday, the board said:

  • All regular instructional programs for grade 9 to 12 students are cancelled.
  • Secondary extracurricular activities, field trips and school events are cancelled.
  • Buses for secondary students will not operate. Buses will continue their routes for elementary students only. Buses to provincial schools will continue.
  • The Peel board's eLearning courses will not continue.
  • Night School classes will not run.
  • Both elementary and secondary International Language classes are cancelled.
  • Teachers may be picketing outside Peel secondary schools. Picketing is not expected to take place outside Peel elementary schools.
  • Students writing International Baccalaureate (IB) or Advanced Placement (AP) exams are reminded that exams will continue at off-site locations.

Following the announcement, the school board issued a scathing statement accusing the union of being “irresponsible” and scuttling local talks in order to pressure negotiators at the provincial bargaining table.

“In going ahead with the strike, they proved what boards have known all along—there’s no sincere commitment by provincial OSSTF to reach a local settlement; they’re just using the excuse of not reaching local agreements as a cover for their strategy to pressure the provincial table,” PDSB chair Janet McDougald said in the statement. “Not only is that disingenuous, it’s actually irresponsible to disrupt the school year for 42,000 Peel secondary students as a political tactic.”

The OSSTF did not immediately comment on the move to strike.

On Friday, McDougald told CP24 that progress has been slow but that the two sides are trying to resolve what she called the "minority of issues that are in our brief."

The strike by Peel high school teachers comes in addition to another strike already underway in Durham Region, where teachers walked off the job on April 20, forcing the cancellation of classes at 22 schools.

Peel elementary schools could also soon be closed as a result of labour action. Those teachers will be in a legal strike position on May 10.