Alberta Premier Danielle Smith expressed her "disappointment" in the Alberta Teachers' Association for not agreeing to enter enhanced mediation. (Photo: Alberta Government)

By David Opinko

Alberta Government ‘very disappointed’ teachers rejected mediation

Oct 17, 2025 | 2:16 PM

Members of the Alberta Government say they were hoping to put an end to the teachers’ strike.

Premier Danielle Smith, Finance Minister Nate Horner, and Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides issued a joint statement Friday afternoon after the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) rejected their offer to enter enhanced mediation.

Those in the government say that this process would have ensured that students returned to their classrooms on Monday, Oct. 20, while negotiations continued alongside a third-party mediator.

“We are very disappointed that the Alberta Teachers’ Association refused this offer. Teachers and students should also be disappointed,” says Smith, Horner and Nicolaides.

The province’s 51,000 teachers have been on strike since Oct. 6, impacting more than 740,000 K-12 students in Alberta.

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Government officials say that they want the same things as the ATA: more teachers, more pay for teachers, more educational assistants, and more classrooms.

ATA President Jason Schilling says he and his team were left with no choice but to say no to mediation because they believe it would have been biased.

That is because he says the government was completely unwilling to discuss caps on classroom sizes, which remains the main sticking point.

“Teachers will not accept a process designed to avoid the real issues in Alberta’s classrooms,” says Schilling. “The government’s proposal is biased, protects its own political interests and fails to address what teachers, students and parents are saying every single day: class sizes are too large, and classroom complexity is unmanageable.”

READ MORE: Alberta teachers reject government request to end strike and enter mediation

Schilling says Alberta’s classrooms are overcrowded and underfunded, and that Alberta funds public education to the lowest level on a per-student basis in the country.

Members of the Alberta Government say that the ATA needs to do what is right for its members and for students, and if it refuses to do so, “We will consider further options to bring this strike to an end.”