The Bruce Grey Catholic District School Board (BGCDSB) announced Thursday that they will be moving to remote learning beginning on Monday, November 21 if a settlement between the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the provincial government is not reached.

CUPE announced a full withdrawal of service Monday unless a full negotiated settlement is reached. For the Catholic board this withdrawal includes their custodial and maintenance staff as well as their EAs, Early Childhood Educators, librarians, secretaries and CUPE staff at their Catholic Education Centre, making up approximately 420 permanent and casual employees (about 41%).

"After assessing the safety risks for our students, the Board has made the very difficult decision to close schools to students in the event of a strike. Safety for all remains the Board’s primary concern and was the predominant factor that was considered in
making this decision," read a November 17 media release. "As such, all Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board schools will be closed to students as of Monday, November 21, 2022 unless a new central agreement between CUPE, and the Government of Ontario has been reached."

Students will receive asynchronous lessons on Monday November 21, 2022, and synchronous learning will begin on Tuesday, November 22, 2022. Any before and after school programs will be closed.

"While we remain hopeful that negotiations this weekend will be successful and a strike can be averted, we encourage families to make alternate child care arrangements for next week, beginning Monday," the release said, adding that updates will be made available at bgcdsb.org/labour_update.