*This is a legacy provincial website of the ATA. Visit our new website here

Membership

All teachers employed by a school board in Alberta are required to become active members of the Association. Other teachers may join as associate members. Education students may join as student members.
 

Active Membership

All teachers employed by a school board in Alberta are required, as a condition of employment to be active members of the Alberta Teachers’ Association.
 
The only exceptions fall into two categories:
(1) the teacher named by a board to be superintendent of schools or the teacher named by board motion to be chief deputy superintendent, and
(2) a teacher who has elected, under section 5(1)(b) or 5(1)(c) of the Teaching Profession Act, to renounce their active membership in favour of associate or non-membership; this includes teachers whom the school board has designated to serve in an administrative, supervisory or consultative position and for whom the Association does not bargain or teachers in permanent central office positions who are engaged in carrying out central office administrative functions for the school board and who are not engaged in carrying out teaching functions.

For further information, please consult Membership Matters and Frequently Asked Questions and Answers about Election of Association Membership.

 
Substitute teachers become active members as soon as they are first employed during a school year, and they remain active members until the end of that school year or until they are no longer on the approved substitute roster of the school board, whichever occurs first.
 
Active members have the right to vote and to hold office in the Association.  
 
 Fees for active members effective 2021 09 01 are as follows:
Active member employed full-time
 $1,347 per annum
Active member on leave of absence
 $96 per annum
Active member employed part-time
 1.25 per cent of earnings in each month
Active member employed as an intern
 1.25 per cent of earnings in each month
Active member employed as a substitute
 1.00 per cent of earnings in each month
 

Associate Membership

Associate membership is granted to the following persons upon application and payment of the prescribed fee:
(a) superintendents of schools employed by school boards;
(b) teachers employed by the Government of Alberta;
(c) members of the faculties of education of the universities in Alberta;
(d) teachers employed as faculty members in public colleges;
(e) teachers engaged in teacher education in private colleges affiliated with any of the universities in Alberta;
(f) teachers in private schools or kindergartens;
(g) teachers in schools within the province operated by the Government of Canada;
(h) teachers employed by the Association or any of its local associations;
(i) unemployed teachers;
(j) teachers pursuing further studies on a full-time basis;
(k) retired teachers;
(l) teachers employed in community education programs operated by agencies other than school boards;
(m) teachers employed by the Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund Board;
(n) teachers employed by charter schools;
(o) Elders, Knowledge Keepers and Cultural Advisors and non-certificated educators employed by First Nations School Authorities; 
(p) persons not eligible for active membership employed by school boards such as social workers, psychologists, therapists or clinicians; 
(q) other persons or classes of persons that the Provincial Executive Council may designate, from time to time, subject to the ratification of the Annual Representative Assembly.
 
The fee for associate members is $202.05 per annum effective September 1, 2021.
To apply for associate membership, download, fill out and return an associate membership
application form pdf.
 
Associate members have the right to vote and, subject to the bylaws, have the right to hold office in the Association. However, they are not subject to the Association’s disciplinary provisions.
 
Associate membership for teachers at charter and private schools
Click here to read about the benefits of associate membership to teachers at charter and private schools.

Student Membership

If you are an education student who is enrolled in a full-time undergraduate program leading to eligibility for a teaching certificate, you qualify for membership in a student local. However, to join a local, you must first become a member of the Education Students’ Association (ESA) or the Education Undergraduate Society (EUS) operating on the campus of the university or college that you are attending. To join the ESA or EUS you will need to pay a nominal fee. The ESA or EUS will forward $1 of your membership fee to the ATA, an amount that automatically makes you a student member of the ATA.

Check out the video tutorial on how to create your online ATA Student Membership.

Student members do not have the right to vote or to hold office in the Association and are not subject to the Association’s disciplinary provisions.

Click here for more information about student membership and student locals.

Life Membership

The Association grants life memberships to teachers who, upon retiring from the profession, have been members of the Association for at least 20 years.
 
Life members do not have the right to vote or to hold office in the Association and are not subject to the Association’s disciplinary provisions.
 
There is no fee for a life membership.

Honorary Membership

This category of membership is reserved for members of the Association or other persons who have given meritorious service to the teaching profession or to the advancement of education. The declaration of honorary membership requires the passage, by at least a two-thirds vote, of a motion by Provincial Executive Council.
 
Honorary members do not have the right to vote or to hold office in the Association and are not subject to the Association’s disciplinary provisions.
 
Honorary members pay no fees.