'When do we get the money?': Bill 124 back-payments could soon come to local teachers and nurses

Ontario will have to pay out more than $6 billion to broader public sector workers after the provincial government's wage restraint legislation was found to be unconstitutional, according to a report in the Canadian Press.

Bill 124 went into effect in 2019, capping salary increases for some public sector workers at 1 per cent a year for three years.

But with that legislation now repealed, according to senior government sources cited by the Canadian Press, workers will collectively receive back-pay through so-called “reopener payments” to the tune of $6 billion.

“It certainly is going to cost some money because we're five years behind. People have to remember this is compensation from 2019 up until present day,” said Erin Roy, the president of OSSTF District 9.

Roy said there are a lot of variables to consider when determining how much each worker could receive, based on their placement in the salary grid. But she estimates on the high end, some teachers could receive about $15,000 in gross retroactive pay.

“We just have to remind the teachers and the education workers that this is just money that was essentially stolen from you because this is money you should have been earning throughout this in this inflationary period that we're all feeling,” Roy said.

Roy said the work now begins to determine how much each of the 700,000 teachers, education workers and nurses across the province will get.

“The question is, when do we get to get the money?” Roy asked, noting the province must pay out by June 10, 2024.

“This will come as relief to many, but it's going to go right to lines of credit now. Perhaps, probably could have been paid towards mortgages at some point,” she said.

Ontario New Democrat leader Marit Stiles issued a statement Friday, saying the impacts have already driven people away from the affected professions.

“Now, instead of investing billions to fix the things Ontarians are struggling with—housing, cost of living, emergency room closures—we’re all on the hook for Ford’s misguided attack on workers,” reads the statement from Stiles.

At the same time, teachers have been without a contract since 2022.

Roy confirmed teachers have reached agreements locally, with ratification votes scheduled after March Break.

The central bargaining committee has entered binding interest arbitration with the province, hoping to have a deal to look at by summertime.