Ontario’s Public Colleges at a Crossroads: Navigating the Crisis and Building a brighter Future
Ontario’s public college system is facing an unprecedented crisis – and at the root is the province walking away from its responsibility to fund education.
It doesn’t have to be this way. OPSEU/SEFPO has been working diligently for months to map a different path forward. The end result is in hand: a comprehensively researched policy paper that maps the past, present, and future of Ontario’s college system. Read here:
Willful neglect: The Story of How We Got Here
Since the college systems’ inception, government support for our colleges has dropped from three-quarters of operating costs to less than 30%. Coupled with the Ford government’s embrace of deregulation and privatization policies, college operations became sustained on unregulated international student tuition – setting up the system like a house of cards.
What’s happening to post-secondary education in Ontario is not happening anywhere else in Canada. Ontario comes dead-last for per-student funding among the provinces. Since 2010, tuition fees increased by a staggering 200% in Ontario compared to an average increase of 43% everywhere else.When Ontario’s colleges were established in the 1960s, it was widely recognized that colleges were to be a public good offering accessible, hands-on practical training, generating a sustainable labour force, and creating jobs directly in our communities. Today, the province has opted to encourage the privatization and exploitation of international student enrollment rather than providing sustainable, long-term public investment.The result? Record surpluses for college administrations – profits that were not reinvested in classrooms, faculty, or student services. Instead, the money was used to expand administrative ranks and amass capital reserves, while class sizes grew, and precarious contract faculty positions mushroomed.Now, with federal restrictions on international student permits, Ontario’s public colleges are facing an immediate funding shortfall, with 21 colleges announcing program closures, 11 threatening layoffs, and 14 having reduced the contracts of partial-load faculty members. In addition, 9 colleges have let go of support staff and 8 have plans to reduce staff complement. These numbers are growing month by month.Instead of providing emergency funding to stabilize the system, the Ford government has abandoned our colleges in the middle of an unnecessary snap election – forcing them into austerity-driven program cuts and staffing reductions that threaten the core mission of accessible, community-oriented post-secondary education.This crisis is not inevitable, it is manufactured: caused by a deliberate political and financial strategy that must be reversed through collective action and public investment.
Colleges must be held accountable, and the province must be pressured to increase funding to the national average to protect jobs, programs, and student success.Understanding the Crisis: Who is Responsible?
- Government Neglect: Ontario’s chronic underfunding of public colleges has forced institutions into unsustainable financial models, relying on international tuition instead of stable provincial funding.
- Administrative Mismanagement: College administrators embraced this unstable privatized model, prioritizing administrative expansion and financial reserves over hiring full-time faculty and investing in student learning.
- Lack of Emergency Funding: Despite the predictable decline in international student enrollment, the provincial government has failed to provide bridge funding, instead allowing program closures and layoffs to destabilize the sector.
- Erosion of Public Mandate: Public colleges were created to serve local communities and economies, but program cuts are hitting the most vulnerable populations and vital industries first, further shifting colleges away from their original purpose.
Fighting Back: A Plan for the Future
- Immediate Provincial Investment: Ontario must allocate $1.4 billion in emergency funding to stabilize colleges and prevent mass layoffs and program cuts – the province’s own projected revenue shortfall.
- Long-Term Funding Reform: The province must increase per-student funding to the national average, a $1.34 billion investment, and adjust the funding formula to prioritize domestic student enrollment while maintaining the tuition freeze.
- Accountability for College Administrations: Colleges must reduce administrative excess, reinvest in full-time faculty and support staff hiring, and end the practice of accumulating massive annual surpluses at the expense of student learning conditions.
- Sector-Wide Mobilization: Faculty, staff, students, and the public must demand transparency and accountability, ensuring that post-secondary education remains a public good, not a profit-driven enterprise.
- Bargaining and Advocacy: With collective bargaining ongoing, faculty must resist austerity measures, ensuring that the crisis is not used as an excuse to further erode faculty working conditions or student learning environments.
Conclusion: A Call to Action
The crisis in Ontario’s public colleges is no accident—it is the result of deliberate government policy and administrative mismanagement. It’s a classic conservative play to dismantle public goods: underfund, deregulate, and leverage the resulting crisis to clear the path for privatization.But this moment presents an opportunity: by mobilizing at the local, divisional, and sector-wide levels
, we can push for real solutions and demand that Ontario reinvests in its public colleges.Faculty, staff, students, and the broader public must stand together to protect the integrity of post-secondary education and ensure that Ontario’s colleges serve their communities—not corporate interests.Bargaining Update: Mediation Arbitration
The College Faculty Bargaining Team and College Employer Council (CEC) have now booked dates – June 14-16, 2025 – for mediation-arbitration with Arbitrator William Kaplan. This process will determine the terms and conditions of our new collective agreement, including wages.The current
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed January 7th is not a new collective agreement. Until mediation-arbitration concludes, the terms and conditions of our previous agreement remain in place, with the exception of improvements to benefits for full-time members and breakthrough benefit gains for partial-load members (as outlined in the MOA).The bargaining team – with the support of OPSEU/SEFPO staff and legal counsel – is now in the process of preparing submissions for mediation-arbitration, expressly aimed at fighting back remaining concessions and improving our wages and working conditions.This process is taking place against the backdrop of many colleges threatening austerity because the Ford government continues to starve public systems, creating crisis after crisis in healthcare and education, refusing to listen to their own appointed panel on the matter.
Withholding support for Ford at the ballot box is the next action every member can take to send a message that we will not stand for the dismantling and privatization of post-secondary education. Ontario’s colleges are important social and economic drivers in our communities that need stable, predictable public funding in line with the rest of the provinces, not dead last in the country.
Part-Time and Sessional Faculty Move Closer to Union Certification
After years of advocacy and legal proceedings, part-time (PT) and sessional (SL) faculty in Ontario’s college system are on the brink of union certification. The process, which began in 2017, reached a critical milestone in July 2024 when the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) authorized the opening of ballot boxes. This marks a significant step in the ongoing efforts to secure better working conditions, fair wages, and job security for more than 13,000 precariously employed academic employees.The coming months will be pivotal as Ontario’s part-time and sessional faculty move toward stronger representation, improved working conditions, and a more equitable college system.
Part-time and Sessional Faculty Town Hall
March 19, 2025, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.Join us for our first virtual
Town Hall for part-time and sessional faculty scheduled for
March 19, 2025 from
6:30 – 8:00 PM. Attendance is crucial as a launching point for organizing efforts going forward – invitations are to be distributed both physically (to Locals) and online across social media channels. If you are a part-time/sessional faculty member, or know colleagues who are, make sure to register and spread the word!
Register for Town Hall here!Ballot Count and Next StepsAlthough the OLRB confirmed in July that the required 35% threshold of signed union cards was met, a notice issued in September 2024 delayed the opening of the ballot boxes. The OPSEU/SEFPO Organizing Unit continues to work closely with the OLRB and the College Employer Council’s (CEC) legal counsel to push the process forward. Once the ballots are counted and certification is granted, the union will proceed with collective bargaining, marking a significant turning point for all faculty.
What’s to Come: Two Bargaining UnitsSimilar to our Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology-Support (CAAT-S) counterparts, PT/SL faculty will form their own bargaining unit upon certification. This new CAAT-A Part-Time Division (CAAT-A PT) will operate alongside the existing CAAT-A Division (and renamed to CAAT-A Full-Time Division, or CAAT-A FT), which currently represents full-time and partial-load professors, instructors, counsellors, and librarians.Despite both Divisions falling under the OPSEU/SEFPO CAAT umbrella, each Division will have independent leadership, bylaws, bargaining teams, and collective agreements, although we expect extensive collaboration between the two Divisions.At the local level, the introduction of a PT bargaining unit will transform our currently single-unit locals into composite locals, meaning:
- local bylaws will be required for all locals and will encompass matters across both units;
- a likely expansion of local leadership to accommodate the required supports for new members, including an officer position deriving from the PT Unit; and
- decisions on financial structures, budget allocations, and logistical supports will need to be thoroughly discussed to integrate the two units effectively.
The transition will require careful planning, but the existing College Faculty Divisional Executive (DivEx), OPSEU/SEFPO staff, and local organizers are working diligently to ensure a smooth and efficient process.
Support for LocalsTo facilitate the integration of PT/SL members, OPSEU/SEFPO has introduced several key support initiatives, including:
- voting software to distinguish members by bargaining unit at General Membership Meetings;
- Treasurer’s training to help locals navigate OPSEU/SEFPO’s financial policies; and
- dedicated organizers to assist with faculty outreach and membership card signing.
These resources will help locals adapt to their new structure while ensuring that PT/SL members receive the support they need.
We need your help! Beginning in January 2025, OPSEU/SEFPO has amplified its organizing efforts for PT/SL faculty, with strong collaboration from existing local leadership. While no official date has been set for the ballot count, once certification is confirmed, the new PT Division will have 60 days to issue a Notice to Bargain. In preparation, the DivEx is planning its annual Divisional Meeting to coordinate with PT/SL colleagues, ensuring all locals receive the necessary guidance and support.We are actively recruiting PT/SL faculty members interested in leadership roles at both the provincial and local levels. However, this process goes beyond simply visiting colleges and asking faculty to sign union cards. To establish a strong and comprehensive division, we need your support in identifying potential members.
Faculty Coordinators, if you know a PT/SL member who may fit this bill, please get in touch with your Local! Alternatively, they can express their interest by completing the Leadership Survey, available in both
English and
French.Stay informedThe journey toward bargaining PT/SL faculty’s first collective agreement will be challenging — based on the current experience of CAAT-S PT negotiations — highlighting the complexities ahead. However, this certification represents a historic milestone
for all faculty.All faculty members are strongly encouraged to stay engaged by:
- connecting with their locals, such as joining their mailing list;
- attending local meetings and/or drop-ins; and
- reaching out to your local if you have questions.
In solidarity,
Your CAAT-A Divisional Executive:Pearline Lung (she/her) – Local 562, Chair
Michelle Arbour (she/her) – Local 125, Vice-Chair
Jeff Brown (he/him) – Local 556
Robert Montgomery (he/him) – Local 655
Rebecca Ward (she/her) – Local 732
