The short version
Four elementary schools of the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM), in Côte-des-Neiges, have been part of a network of associated schools run by the Université de Montréal since the 2026 back-to-school, built on the model of teaching hospitals [2]. The idea: train future teachers inside the school, with a residency year in which the student stays in the same class from the fall, co-teaching with the classroom teacher. The model has run for three years in another Montreal school. In the four CSSDM schools, the residency has not started yet: meetings are about the partnership first [1]. Residents are unpaid, the ministry is not involved for now, and the project runs on private gifts [1].
What was announced
On August 27, 2026, in its back-to-school release, the CSSDM presented the Réseau des écoles associées, led by the Université de Montréal's Faculty of Education and modelled on university teaching hospitals [2]. Four schools are part of it: Iona, Simonne-Monet, Notre-Dame-des-Neiges and La Voie.
The CSSDM gives the network three goals: support school teams, better prepare future teachers for real classroom conditions, especially in disadvantaged areas, and help keep early-career staff [2].
On October 16, 2026, Radio-Canada described the project in more detail [1]. For now, preliminary meetings in each school are about the partnership with the university. The partnership may grow into a residency project, depending on what the teams want. The university hopes about twenty schools will eventually become associated schools or residency schools.
What a residency looks like
The model has been refined over three years at École Vanguard in Montreal, where every student has a learning difficulty [1]. Three things set it apart from a usual practicum.
| Usual practicum | Residency (Vanguard model) | |
|---|---|---|
| Time in class | Often a few months, for example in winter | From the fall, in the same class |
| University courses | At the university, before or after the placement | At the same time as practice, taught in the school |
| Role in class | Gradual takeover | Co-teaching with the classroom teacher |
Starting in September changes a lot. The resident sees the year's planning take shape and learns classroom management while routines are being set. They can also take small groups of struggling students, and share the techniques they try with the teacher [1].
Martine Jalette, an elementary teacher at Vanguard, has 17 years of teaching experience. She told Radio-Canada that the residency gives her material she can reuse the following year [1]. Elena Romero took part in the program last year and now teaches at Vanguard. She says residents can apply new concepts as soon as they learn them, by testing them in class [1].
For parents: a second adult, and fair questions
If your child's school becomes a residency school, you will see a second adult in the classroom all year, not just for a few weeks. This is a student teacher who works with the classroom teacher. For a student, it can mean more help in small groups. For a class, it also means one more adult to get to know and trust.
You do not have to wait for an announcement. These are reasonable questions for the principal or the governing board:
- Is the school part of the network of associated schools, and will there be a resident in my child's class this year?
- What will the resident do: small groups, whole-class teaching, homework help?
- How will families be told about the resident and their name?
- Was the governing board consulted?
What is still unsettled
The project is young, and several questions are open. Radio-Canada points to four [1].
- Pay. Residents are unpaid. The Université de Montréal wants a paid model like medicine, but that would mean reopening collective agreements. The next bargaining round starts in winter 2028. The Parti Québécois, the Liberals and Québec solidaire all said during the election campaign that they favour paid internships.
- Funding. The network is funded entirely by philanthropy. The Fondation Famille Michel Fournelle gave $5 million, the largest gift the Faculty of Education has ever received [4]. University chancellor Frantz Saintellemy added $2 million [1].
- The government's role. The Ministry of Education is not involved for now.
- Union reaction. It is mixed. The FSE-CSQ supports a paid residency year, and the FNEEQ-CSN views the measure favourably. The FAE says it has no position. The Alliance des professeures et professeurs de Montréal (APPM), affiliated with the FAE, calls the project "worrying and rushed" in an eight-page notice written in summer 2025. It raises concerns about workload, professional autonomy, a lack of transparency toward school participation committees, and private donations in public schools [1].
The union proposal: a fourth-year practicum turned into a residency
The idea does not come only from the university. On May 1, 2026, the FSE-CSQ released a survey of about 5,700 members on a residency year that would replace the fourth-year practicum of the education degree [3]. Members broadly support its main features:
| Proposed feature | Members in agreement |
|---|---|
| September to June, to cover the whole school year | Over 85% |
| About 40% of teaching time, the current fourth practicum spread over the year | 82% |
| In the school every day | 82% |
| Practical part led by the cooperating teacher | Nearly 94% |
| Theory part led by the university | 88% |
| Equal pay for all student teachers | Nearly 77% |
The online survey ran from January 6 to February 2, 2026 [3]. The CSSDM model and the FSE-CSQ proposal agree on the basics (a full year, in one school) but differ on one key point: the union proposal includes pay, the current project does not.
What about early-career dropout?
It is the core argument for the project. The Université de Montréal writes that conditions in disadvantaged schools explain why so many teachers leave early in their careers, despite being qualified [4]. The CSSDM speaks of keeping early-career staff [2].
A precise figure is missing, though. Radio-Canada notes that real data on teachers leaving the profession in Quebec are hard to obtain [1]. The model will have to be judged on its own results, as the network's schools publish them.
What you can do
If you teach in one of the four schools, the preliminary meetings are the right time to state your conditions: shared planning time, the resident's exact role, recognition of the mentoring work. The project goes ahead only if the teams want it [1].
If you teach elsewhere and the model interests you, becoming a cooperating teacher for current practicums is the most direct way in. Talk to your principal and to the practicum office of the university in your region.
If you are a parent, ask the questions listed above. A second trained adult in class is good news when families know who they are and what they do.
A resident joining your class? Introduce them to families in September, in the same thread as your class messages. LinoClass brings the portfolio and parent messages together, with student information hosted in Quebec (see our privacy policy).
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