How the hours add up
Every operational day counts toward assignable time. Class days count your timetable: teaching is instructional time, and supervision, transition time you are on call for, assigned prep and assigned time before or after school are assignable. Free prep and lunch without a duty are not. Each teachers' convention day is 6 hours, and PD and other no-student days use the hours you set. Duties outside the timetable are added on their dates.
Sick days and other short paid leaves count as if you had worked them, so you plan the year as scheduled. The full list, with the bulletin item for each, is on what counts as assignable time.
Example: the opening plan
The Edmonton Public 2026–27 calendar has 178 class days. Five 60 minute classes a day give 890 hours of instruction, 26 under 916. With 30 minutes a day of before and after school time and transitions, 12 PD, operational and convention days at 6 hours, Tuesday recess supervision, ten staff meetings, a meet the teacher evening and two interview evenings, assignable time is 1,078 h 30 min.
Questions about assignable time
Is the instructional cap 907 or 916 hours?
916. The collective agreements cap teacher instructional time at 916 hours per school year from 2022-23, and the 2024-28 agreements set by the Back to School Act keep that cap. The 907 you still see in older bulletins and local guides was the earlier figure.
Does prep time count as assignable time?
Only if it is assigned. Joint Interpretation Bulletin 1 says preparation time is assigned time when the teacher is assigned the prep; if it is not assigned you may leave the school, following your school's sign-out rules. Pick Prep, assigned or Prep, free to leave for each block.
Do lunch, recess and transition time count?
Lunch counts only when you are given a duty such as lunch supervision. Recess supervision counts. Transition time between classes counts when you are on call to deal with students. Separately, a teacher assigned five hours or more gets a 30 minute rest period in each five hours worked.
How many hours is teachers' convention?
Six hours for each convention day, under Bulletin 1. PD days and other operational days with no students use the length you set, six hours to start with, which is also the ATA calculators' default of 360 minutes.
How are part-time teachers' hours worked out?
Your FTE is your assignable hours divided by those of a typical full-time teacher in your school. Your instruction can then be at most FTE x 916 hours: 458 hours at 0.5. Divisions must report the typical full-time hours for each school to the ATA by October 31.
Do coaching, concerts and clubs count?
They count when they are assigned to you and you are required to attend. If you choose to volunteer, the time is not assigned time. Add assigned events under Duties with their dates.
What happens if I am over 1,200 hours?
1,200 hours is the most you can be assigned, and the division cannot pay for extra hours instead. Print the summary, show your principal the weeks that push you over, and contact ATA Teacher Employment Membership Support or your local's Teacher Welfare Committee if it is not fixed.
Sources: collective agreements 2024–28 incorporating the Back to School Act, clauses 6.1, 8.1 to 8.3 (for example Edmonton Catholic, Lethbridge) and the legislated central terms; ATA/TEBA Joint Interpretation Bulletins 1 (2017, assignable time) and 5 (2019, part-time); the ATA's 2026–27 assignable time calculators, whose totals this planner matches; example dates from the Edmonton Public Schools 2026–27 calendar. A planning aid, not legal advice: your collective agreement and your local decide.