ATTENTION: You are viewing a page for the general 2025 Provincial Executive Council (PEC) election to be held in March 2025. See information on the Edmonton District By-election |
Please note that all 2025 Provincial Executive Council (PEC) election candidates must submit their completed nominations by 5 pm on January 14, 2025.
Candidate eligibility
If you are an active or associate ATA member and you are not receiving an Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund pension, you are eligible to run in the PEC elections.
Active members are teachers (excluding superintendents and some central office teachers who elect not to remain active members) who are employed by Alberta school boards. Substitute teachers become active members upon first employment during each school year. Their active status terminates at the end of the school year or when they are no longer on the substitute roster.
Associate members are individuals who have had associate membership granted to them by the ATA upon application and payment of applicable fees.
Examples of associate members include (but are not limited to)
- teachers employed by the Government of Alberta, and
- members of faculties of education at Alberta universities and teachers in schools within the province of Alberta operated by the Government of Canada.
Where You Can Run
ATA president or vice-president candidates
These positions are open to all active and associate ATA members.
District representative
The ATA local with which you are affiliated will determine the geographic district in which you can run. If you are not employed by a school board, as is the case with many of our associate members, you will not have an affiliation with a local. In this instance, the geographic district in which you can run is determined by the school district operating in the town or city in which you live.
Scenario 1
- You are a teacher employed by Red Deer Public Schools, making your membership status active.
- Active members employed by Red Deer Public Schools form the membership of Red Deer City Local 60 (ATA Local 60).
- Red Deer City Local 60 is within the Central South geographic district.
- You can run for the position of District Representative Central South.
Scenario 2
- You are a teacher employed by Calgary Public Teachers Local No 38*, making your membership status associate.
- Teachers employed by Calgary Public Teachers Local No 38 are associate members and are affiliated with that ATA local.
- Calgary Public Teachers Local No 38 is within the Calgary City geographic district.
- You can run for the position of Calgary City district representative.
*Note: Upon election, the member would need to resign their employment with the local.
Scenario 3
- You are a teacher employed by the University of Alberta. If you have chosen to be an ATA member, your membership status is associate.
- Your employer has no affiliation with an ATA local, making your place of residence the determining factor in identifying the geographic district in which you can run as a district representative candidate.
- You live in Fort Saskatchewan, where Elk Island Public and Elk Island Catholic school jurisdictions operate. Their teachers belong to either Elk Island Local No 28 or Elk Island Catholic Teachers Local 21, which are within the Edmonton District geographic district.
- You can run for the position of District Representative Edmonton District.
Candidates' HandbookThis handbook outlines the requirements and procedures for the PEC Election |
Candidate registration
Step 1: Register as a candidate
To run in a PEC election, you must first register as a candidate.
Once you are registered, the ATA can directly communicate updates and instructions throughout the election cycle. Registration also confirms your eligibility for election-related support. See the Candidates Handbook for more information or email elections@ata.ab.ca.
Candidates may register at any time between when nominations open and the nomination deadline on January 14, 2025.
Step 2: Secure your nomination
Once you have registered, you need at least 25 nominators (teachers who support your candidacy).
There are two options for securing nomination:
- The traditional method of collecting a hard copy list of nominators, or
- A convenient online form for individual nominators to complete and submit. If you prefer to use the online form, please submit your candidate registration form along with your request for an online form to the elections administrative officer at elections@ata.ab.ca.
Your nominators must be active or associate ATA members who are eligible to vote in your geographic district. If you choose the online option, they must also have an online ATA account in order to individually sign on as your nominator. If they don’t have an online ATA account already, you can send them instructions to create one. It is recommended that all candidates obtain extra nominators in case some of their nominators cannot be verified as eligible nominators.
Step 3: Complete your nomination acceptance form
The nomination acceptance form should be completed by you and signed by a witness.
Nomination deadline
Your list of nominators and your nomination acceptance form must be sent to the ATA (elections@ata.ab.ca) by 5 pm on January 14, 2025. Although, it is recommended that candidates submit their list of nominators well in advance of the deadline in the event that they need additional nominators.
In the email we send to candidates when they submit their registration to become a candidate, we'll have to be clear with them to try to get extra nominators, and get them in early.
Candidate meeting
All candidates in contested races (that is, with two or more candidates running) are required to attend a virtual meeting, currently scheduled for Saturday, January 18, 2025, and hosted by the returning officer. The meeting will establish a common understanding of the election rules and answer any questions you may have about the process.
How to attend
The meeting time and link will be emailed to all confirmed candidates by noon on January 17, 2025.
