On Feb. 1, 2016, OCUFA President Judy Bates presented OCUFA’s 2016 budget priorities to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. This committee is tasked with reviewing Ontario’s fiscal and economic policies, and makes recommendations to government on what should be contained within the provincial budget. OCUFA’s proposals are directed toward enhancing the quality […]
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MPP Yvan Baker has introduced a private member’s bill calling for the creation of a centralized portal for information on higher education in Ontario. The Bill suggests that 12 data points be collected and publicized in a single location for the benefit of students and their families. OCUFA supports the principle behind that bill- that […]
A decade ago, Mike Lazaridis highlighted the role of university research in developing the talent needed for success in the wider world of R&D. This is no less true today. Unfortunately, Canada continues to lag in university attainment rates, particularly in advanced degrees. Given the importance of producing research talent, it is no accident that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development […]
Ontarians do not want the government’s austerity agenda to compromise the quality of university education in the province, according to a new study released today by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA). While most Ontarians think it is important to reduce the provincial deficit, over two-thirds oppose any cost-cutting measure that reduces the quality of education received by students. “The […]
Statistics Canada reports that spending on research and development (R&D) in Canada is expected to be two per cent higher in 2011 than it was the previous year. After two years of cutting back, spending by business is expected to increase by five per cent. However, if inflation rose and the economy grew as anticipated in the […]
Statistics Canada’s report on unionization shows a positive relationship between unionization and earnings and hours. In Ontario, average hourly earnings for unionized full-time employees were 21 per cent higher in 2010 than for their non-union counterparts. And union members worked an average of three per cent fewer hours per week. For unionized part-time employees the wage advantage was […]
The proportion of Canadian employees who were union members in the first six months of 2011 remained virtually unchanged from the same period the year before, according to StatsCanada data. Unionization in the education sector, however, rose noticeably, particularly amongst teachers and professors. Nearly 30 per cent of Canadians belong to a union, compared to […]
This fall has seen the largest number ever of first-year students enter Ontario universities, even more than the 2003 “double cohort”. More than 90,000 confirmed their registration, which follows upon a 3.5 per cent increase the previous year. College enrolments are also up. Meantime, according to data from Statistics Canada, the number of Ontario’s […]