Northern First Nations turn to signing bonuses and other incentives to attract teachers

Deanna Matthews, head of Calgary-based organization Gakino'amaage: Teach For Canada, which places teachers in remote First Nations communities.

Sheryl White knew years ago that a teacher shortage was on the horizon for the school of more than 500 students she oversees in the God’s Lake Narrows First Nation, in Northern Manitoba.

Teachers from the community who had spent their careers at the school would soon be retiring, and the community did not have enough educators to replace them, says Ms. White, the director of education at the God’s Lake Narrows First Nation School Board.

Since then, she has visited job fairs at colleges and universities throughout the year hoping to entice graduates to teach at the school, with a $7,000 signing bonus along with other perks, such as two free annua