Calgary students recently engaged in a provincewide school walkout in response to the resolution of the Alberta teachers’ strike. Organized by Alberta Students for Teachers, the walkouts were held at various high schools in the city. Arya Mishra, a Grade 12 student at William Aberhart High School and one of the organizers, emphasized the importance of students expressing their views during the protest.
Following the government’s introduction of back-to-work legislation for striking teachers, students returned to school on Wednesday. The enactment of Bill 2, known as the Back to School Act, signified the end of the job action that had impacted over 50,000 members of the Alberta Teachers’ Association.
Students like Mishra and her peers joined the protests to show solidarity with teachers and advocate for classroom caps and optional January diplomas. Their actions were supported by an online petition that garnered over 27,000 signatures, calling for the optional nature of January 2026 diploma exams due to the strike’s effects.
In regions outside Calgary, students across southern Alberta also participated in the provincewide walkout. In Canmore, approximately 120 students from Canmore Collegiate High School took part, while around 50 students from Lethbridge Collegiate Institute engaged in the walkout to highlight the significance of teachers’ rights.
Despite the students’ peaceful protests, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides emphasized the importance of attending classes and not disrupting the learning environment. The Calgary Board of Education and Calgary Catholic School District acknowledged the protests but emphasized that they did not endorse the walkouts. They stated that participating in such events would be considered an unexcused absence and could result in missed classes being marked as unexcused absences.