Upcoming Events
Watch this space for announcements of upcoming events.
IPE/BC is busy planning its spring 2026 Forum and AGM and will post the details soon.
Recent Events
Webinar: Healthy School Food: We can do it together
On September 25, 2025, IPE/BC and CUPE/BC co-hosted a webinar on ensuring kids have access to healthy food at school. The webinar featured Brent Mansfield (co-founder of Lunch Lab, founder of the BC Chapter of the Coalition for Healthy School Food and a Vancouver teacher) and Mark Robinson (Trustee for School District 68- Nanaimo Ladysmith).
Forum: Inclusionary practices in BC Schools: Are we making progress
On March 6, 2025, in conjunction with our Annual General Meeting, IPE/BC held a forum titled, “Inclusionary practices in BC schools: Are we making progress? We’re grateful to our panelists Hilary Thompson, President of Inclusion BC, Tamara Taggart, President of Down Syndrome BC, and Tracy Humphreys, Executive Director of BCCPAC and past ED of BCEdAccess, and our moderator, Patti Bacchus, IPE/BC Board member. Don’t worry if you weren’t able to attend; you can watch a video of the forum and read all about it.
Forum: Teacher shortages and institutional responses
We’re very grateful to Dr. Dan Laitsch, Dean, Faculty of Education, SFU, for speaking to our 2024 forum about the serious teacher shortage and for engaging our many participants online and in person in a discussion of the causes and solutions. Dan stressed the importance of a comprehensive systemic response to each of the hurdles to recruiting and retaining teacher candidates and practising teachers. We’re pleased to report that his presentation inspired IPE/BC to form a working committee to highlight the issues, research the solutions, and advocate for positive changes. We invite you to take a few minutes to read the report on this forum here.
Forum: Stretched to the Limit
IPE/BC was pleased to host the forum, Stretched to the Limit, in conjunction with its AGM on March 2, 2023. The forum featured Annabree Fairweather, Executive Director, CUFA/BC, Andrée Gacoin, Director of Information, Research, and International Solidarity, BCTF, and Tracy Humphries, Executive Director, BC EdAccess. Dan Laitsch, then IPE/BC Chairperson served as discussant. See the report on this forum here.
Beyond Education as Usual: Public Education in a Post-Covid World
On February 27, 20IPE/BC hosted a forum featuring panelists, Jessie Smallboy, Langara student in aboriginal studies and Cree parent of school-aged children, Bryn Williams, Coquitlam School District principal, and Julie McRae, experienced teacher and teacher leader. We’re thankful to each of them for sharing their perspectives on the impact of Covid on public schools and what we all learned from that period. See the forum report here.
Earlier Events
Forum: How Education Funding Matters
Think Tank: Privatization and Public Education