FAQ: TA Hiring

Student: Can I be a TA for one of your courses?
Parker: That decision is not up to me. Good luck!

Students often approach me to ask if they can be a TA for one of my courses. Unfortunately, it is not up to me to decide who gets to be a TA for my courses. The TA hiring process does not work that way.

In this note, I will explain how TA hiring works in CMS and offer some tips for maximizing your chance of becoming a TA. First, we need to understand how TA Hiring works. It is a four step process.

Applicants Apply. The CUPE Hiring Portal has all the TA positions listed. Usually, there are signs around the department showing when it is open.
Faculty Rank Applicants. Once the job deadline passes, the TA Hiring Coordinator sends the applicant list for each course to the relevant professors. The professors rank the candidates by assigning them a score from 1 to 99. Lower scores are generally better:
- 1=“I really want this applicant”
- 99=“This person is provably unqualified for this position.”
TA Hiring Coordinator Assigns Roles. The TA Hiring Coordinator then looks at the rankings, puts graduate applicants in to roles, and fills the remaining positions with highly ranked undergraduates.
Last Minute Re-Shuffling. During the first few weeks of classes, a number of TAs will get assigned as people fill out their schedules. Usually, emergency offers will go out for particular tutorials.

Now that we know the process, it suggests a few things about how to get a TA position. The first and most helpful thing is to be a graduate student. Due to union rules, and they way their funding model works, they always get priority.

If you’re not a graduate student then the place where you can improve your chances during the hiring process is when faculty rank applicants. Make sure that faculty want to rank you highly. Do well in the course, chat with the professors during office hours, be friendly.

Humans are social creatures and we tend to favour people we know over people that we do not know. If you want to be ranked highly, you should get to know your professors and make it clear that you want to TA their courses. The best way to do this is to chat with them in person about your desire to TA their courses. It also helps to send a quick e-mail, especially one with a head shot and your official UToronto name, around hiring time. Here’s a little sample e-mail:

Hi, Professor XYZ.

This is Parker Adey.

I took MAT ABC with you in Winter 2023.

I'd like to TA it next semester.
I'm really eager to teach mathematics.

Could we meet to chat about TA'ing?

Published: Mar 24, 2026 @ 09:15.

FAQ: TA Hiring

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