Today, OCUFA, along with other members of the Ontario Universities and Colleges Coalition, sent the following letter to Minister of Colleges and Universities Ross Romano and Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development Monte McNaughton. Dear Ministers Romano and McNaughton, First and foremost, we hope that you and your families are doing well during these […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant and unprecedented challenges for faculty, academic librarians, staff, and students at Ontario’s universities. We carry on as best we can, while keenly feeling the loss of community and face-to-face interaction. This pandemic has made clear the importance of in-person learning and exposed and exacerbated many of the inequities that […]
The Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, along with researchers and trade unions including the Canadian Association of University Teachers, has developed a pan-Canadian survey on COVID-19 workplace experiences. It is important that the views of university faculty and other academic staff are reflected in this survey. The data collected will be used to develop […]
Now is not the time for the Ontario government to move forward with its reckless plans for destabilizing performance-based funding, especially given the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing uncertainty facing Ontario’s postsecondary institutions, workers, and students. That was the message OCUFA President Rahul Sapra delivered to the Ontario government last week. In a letter to […]
OCUFA’s 17,000 faculty, academic librarians, and other academic professionals are deeply concerned about the equity implications of the COVID-19 crisis on Ontario’s health care system and economy, and the adverse impacts both will have on the most marginalized in our society. While it may be difficult to remember life before COVID-19, it is important to […]
TORONTO, March 26, 2020 – OCUFA is pleased to see that the Ford government’s spring economic statement includes much needed investment in the province’s health care system and OSAP loan interest relief for students, but is disappointed there are only marginal increases to postsecondary education funding. Faculty, academic librarians, and other academic professionals represented by […]
On Saturday, February 8 and Sunday, February 9, OCUFA held its second Board of Directors meeting of the 2019-20 academic year. Over the weekend, board members discussed the organization’s current priorities – good jobs, university funding, and capacity building – with a focus on challenges to the postsecondary sector and to public education as a […]
OCUFA has set out its priorities for the 2020 Ontario Budget in a written submission to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. OCUFA’s 2020 budget recommendations aim to preserve the accessibility and quality of postsecondary education in Ontario through stable, consistent, and adequate funding, as well as improved working conditions for university faculty. […]
On Saturday, October 19 and Sunday, October 20, OCUFA held its first Board of Directors meeting of the 2019-20 academic year. The weekend oriented new board members to OCUFA and allowed members to discuss the implications of the Ford government’s attacks on public postsecondary education in Ontario. During the meeting, there were special presentations on […]
OCUFA is concerned that the Conservative Party and Andrew Scheer are trying to score cheap political points by taking a page from Doug Ford’s playbook and attempting to manufacture a campus free speech crisis. The Conservative Party’s materials, distributed on a number of campuses over the past week, misrepresent the nature of speech at Canadian […]
OCUFA cautiously welcomes news that the provincial and federal governments have reached a memorandum of understanding in which they both recognize the importance of meeting the postsecondary needs of Ontario’s growing Francophone population. In the 2018 Ontario election, Doug Ford promised to move forward with the Université de l’Ontario français – a project set into […]
Announced in the Ontario Budget , the Ford government’s reckless new market-based approach to funding postsecondary education will fundamentally compromise the integrity of Ontario’s higher education system. This alarming shift in education funding will create greater inequity, hurt students, and threaten the quality of education in our province. The proposed market-based performance funding model will […]
Toronto, Sep. 4, 2019 – Ontario faculty are warning that the Ford government’s so called “performance” funding model for postsecondary education is reckless, ineffective, and dangerous. The new funding model will link 60 per cent of government funding for universities ($2.2 billion dollars) to an arbitrary set of metrics chosen with no consultation. These metrics […]
Worldviews 2019 starts next week, but there is still time to register. In addition to a stellar line-up of speakers , conference participants will enjoy a special free screening of the documentary The Corporate Coup D’etat being presented in partnership with the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival . The film will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Rick Salutin, and featuring Maude Barlow, John Ralston Saul, […]
Ontario faculty are concerned that the Ford government intends to interfere in collective bargaining relationships throughout the public sector, including at universities across the province. In a written submission to the Treasury Board Secretariat regarding its consultations on public sector compensation, OCUFA detailed its concerns about the consultation process and the government’s motives. Ontario’s faculty […]
