Students at multiple Surrey, B.C., schools have been unable to complete their homework lately — not because it's too hard or there's too much, or even because the dog ate it, but because of schoolwide paper shortages.

Lizanne Foster, president of the Surrey Teachers Association, said in some cases, students are forced to share worksheets or use scrap paper to copy worksheets out. 

The shortage stems from a variety of reasons, she said, because schools aren't able to buy enough new textbooks and t…