How to Check If a Teacher Is Really Certified in Canada

The short version

Ask for the teacher's full legal name and certificate number. Search the registry for the province that certified them. Then read the whole record rather than stopping at the name, because status, certificate type and disciplinary history are separate fields and any of them can change the answer.

Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba all have public lookups. New Brunswick publishes suspensions and revocations only. Everywhere else, you ask the regulator directly.

Step 1. Ask for two things

Their full legal name, and their certificate number. Ontario calls it a registration number.

A certified teacher will have both ready. Hesitation here is information.

Step 2. Search the right province's registry

The registry belongs to whichever province certified the teacher, not to the province your child lives in. Use the table further down to find it.

Step 3. Read the whole record, not just the name

Most people stop at "does this person exist." The useful check goes further.

Status. Is the certificate currently valid, or is it expired, suspended, or cancelled?

Certificate type. A full certificate of qualification is not the same thing as a temporary permit or a letter of permission.

Disciplinary history. All five public provinces publish it, but not all of them put it in the same place. Ontario, Saskatchewan and Manitoba carry it inside the teacher's own record, so it is a field to read rather than a search to go hunting for. Ontario's record includes "disciplinary history, if applicable." Saskatchewan's includes "Discipline history, if applicable." Manitoba's registry covers "the status of their certificate and any records of suspension or cancellation of the certificate or of any current limitations or conditions imposed on it."

British Columbia and Alberta split it in two. BC's registry shows "any record of disciplinary action" for current certificate holders, and runs a separate discipline database for former ones. Alberta runs its discipline search alongside the teacher search rather than inside it, covering suspensions and cancellations from 1990 onward, findings of unprofessional conduct or professional incompetence after January 1, 2023, and consent resolution agreements.

That split matters most in BC. Someone whose certificate was revoked, or has simply lapsed, no longer appears in Find a Teacher at all — only in the discipline database. Alberta's main registry is broader: it also covers individuals who once held a certificate, going back to 1954. A clean registry result tells you about a current certificate. It does not always tell you about a person's whole history.

Every regulator, and where to check

Search these yourself, free, no account needed. Every link goes to the regulator's own page, so you never have to take our word for any of it.

New Brunswick's partial registry answers the opposite question to the others. Not "is this person certified," but "has this person lost their certificate."

A blank result is not proof of anything

If the name does not come up, do not conclude yet.

BC's registry names three reasons a search returns nothing: "the name was entered incorrectly (e.g., the name entered was not spelled correctly, or it is not the legal name)", "the person does not have a teaching certificate or letter of permission", or "the person is still in the process of applying for a teaching certificate." Manitoba's registry lists the same three. Saskatchewan's registry shows the name a teacher last gave the board — "the name displayed reflects the information last provided to SPTRB" — so a recent legal name change can hide a real record.

Try the legal spelling first. Then ask the regulator. Draw your conclusion third.

A clean record is not the whole story either

A registry entry records the conclusions a regulator has already reached. Two things sit outside that.

Manitoba states the first one more plainly than anyone: "Interim steps, such as active investigations, are not reflected on the registry. A teacher under investigation may have a professional status of 'good standing' while a disciplinary or other investigatory process is underway and before a finding has been made." Manitoba adds that its Commissioner can still order a certificate suspended mid-investigation where that is necessary to protect students from harm.

The second is discipline handled by an employer rather than by the regulator. It does not appear either, because the regulator never ruled on it. Manitoba, again: "Disciplinary actions taken by employers are not reflected on the registry."

Alberta names a third, narrower gap. A disciplinary decision can be withheld where disclosure is prevented by another law in Alberta or Canada, by a court order, or by circumstances where disclosure "could reasonably cause injury or hardship to a person other than the teacher or teacher leader."

If something specific worries you, that is a question for the regulator rather than for the search box.

What a registrar will and will not tell you

In Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, contacting the registrar is how you confirm that a certificate is real and in good standing, and whether it has been suspended or revoked.

Give them the teacher's exact legal name, plus the certificate number if you have it. Then expect an answer scoped tightly to the certificate. The Ontario College of Teachers puts the limit plainly: "The College does not provide teachers' addresses or other contact information or employment history." Saskatchewan's registry is scoped the same way — it "does not include teachers' employment history or contact information" — and Manitoba answers the question outright: "No, places of employment are not listed on the registry."

Where a teacher has worked, and who employs them now, are questions for the teacher.