Manitoba's teacher watchdog hears 94 complaints in first 15 months

Manitoba's newly created commissioner of teacher professional conduct received 94 complaints and handed out four interim suspensions in its first year.

WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s teacher watchdog says it heard 94 complaints about misconduct in its first 15 months, including a handful of cases about physical and emotional harm to students.

The Manitoba Commissioner of Teacher Professional Conduct says in its first full annual report that it resolved 23 of those complaints by the end of March.

Four were about emotional harm, including yelling at or mocking students, and two involved physical harm.

In one case, a teacher grabbed a student by the shirt, lifting the student out of a chair for refusing to leave as instructed.

Another teacher arranged over social media to meet a high school student and gave the student cannabis and alcohol.

That teacher lost their teaching certificate, and five others entered into consent resolution agreements — addressing the issues without a hearing.

The commissioner took no further action on the other 17 cases.

None involved sexual abuse of a student.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2026.

The Canadian Press