Some school boards in the northwest are concerned that proposed regulations for new hires will make it tougher to recruit teachers in small communities.

In its negotiations with Ontario's Ministry of Education, the English Catholic teachers union agreed to hiring criteria that would give added weight to seniority.

The ministry wants to legislate the hiring regulations for all school boards.

“Now it’s very prescribed, in that the five most senior qualified persons would be the people interviewed for the position,” said Tom Mustapic, associate director of the Thunder Bay Catholic Board.

Under the new rules, teachers could interview for a permanent position when they successfully complete one long-term placement of four months.

But Jack McMaster, director of Education for the Keewatin – Patricia district school board, said his board sometimes has no choice but to look at teachers with less experience.

“In our small northern communities, we often hire people straight out of teachers college mainly because we don’t have a good ... or a large hiring pool,” McMaster said.

Phyllis Eikre, director of the Kenora Catholic school board, said the new regulations would make it even harder for young teachers to find permanent work.

“It does concern us because we don’t want to lose the opportunity to put our best teachers where we know they’re going to create success for our students,” said Eikre.

But the province said the regulations will make the hiring process more transparent.