The Provocation Ideas Festival is a venue for the public to engage in spirited discussion, debate, and exploration on important contemporary issues. With support from OCUFA, the 2022 festival is bringing together disparate voices working for positive change through engaging dialogue and evocative art. The festival will feature panel discussions with some of Canada’s most […]

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine University Academic and Professional Staff Union (Unit 1, OPSEU 677; NUFSA) has extended their collective agreement for one year. The extension agreement contains a one per cent ATB increase and a Bill 124 wage re-opener, as well as other provisions including additional Scholarship funding for 2022-23. The parties have […]

The OCUFA University Governance Committee has published “ Strategies for Enhancing Collegial Governance and Effectiveness in Governance Spaces .” The resource provides concrete and practical strategies and tactics for addressing barriers to collegial governance and faculty engagement in university governing bodies. As traditional processes of shared collegial governance are becoming increasingly threatened or ignored, this document aims to provide faculty and academic librarians associations and […]

On Sunday, May 1, International Workers’ Day, the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is holding a province-wide Day of Action to bring together workers and their families from across Ontario to raise awareness about our priorities and demonstrate our commitment to fighting for a more progressive future for the province. In over 20 different communities, […]

The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) has given the Ford government a failing grade for its election budget. After four years of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government undermining the foundations of public universities and allowing our postsecondary education system to languish behind every other province, this budget promises no improvement to university education quality, […]

There is more to Academic Matters than just the print issue. New articles are being added to the Academic Matters website every week. Here are some recent articles you might find interesting: Are there ever really ‘financial reasons’ to fire faculty? Laurentian University, academic freedom, and the disciplining of the professoriate “The 2020–21 academic year saw two incidents of Ontario professors being effectively fired: the termination of 116 of the 345 professors at Laurentian […]

TORONTO, April 25, 2022 – The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) is calling on university administrators across the province to maintain campus masking mandates until at least the end of August. With new COVID-19 cases reaching peaks surpassing previous waves of the pandemic and other health and safety measures having been lifted, masking […]

On Saturday, February 26, OCUFA held its second Board of Directors meeting of the 2021-22 academic year. At the meeting, board members discussed the organization’s advocacy plans for the Ontario provincial election in June. OCUFA’s goal is to ensure the next provincial government is committed to supporting Ontario’s public universities. During the meeting, OCUFA member […]

TORONTO/SUDBURY, April 13, 2022 – The Auditor General of Ontario’s preliminary report on Laurentian University confirms assertions faculty have been making for more than a year—that the university’s financial crisis resulted from secretive and deficient governance practices and the Ford government’s failure to step in and support the institution when its financial needs became clear. […]

This coming Monday, the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is hosting a caucus open to anyone who studies or works at a college, university, or other postsecondary institution in Ontario. The caucus will provide an opportunity to get organized for the OFL’s province-wide day of action on May 1. Thousands of people across Ontario, including […]

TORONTO, April 1, 2022 – With the French Language Services Commissioner’s revelations that the Laurentian University administration and Ford government failed in their responsibilities to safeguard the interests of the province’s French speakers, the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) is calling for the 28 French language programs cut by the university to be […]

When Laurentian University filed for protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), it became the first public university in Canada to do so. The upcoming federal budget is our chance to make sure it is also the last. Both the CCAA and Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) are federal pieces of legislation specifically designed […]

The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations is pleased to see the Ontario Government extend the tuition fee freeze for domestic students into 2023. However, urgent funding is needed to support education quality and accessibility at Ontario’s public universities. “If the Ford government is serious about tackling student debt and high tuition fees, the upcoming […]