Post-Secondary Education Under Attack – Academic Staff and Students Fight Back

Table of Contents

1. Enrolment Suspensions and Members’ Resistance at uOttawa
2. Carleton University Academic Staff Association (CUASA) Call for Solidarity
3. York University Workers and Students Resist Suspensions
4. Unprecedented Government Overreach on Nova Scotia Campuses

Across both the province and country, as well as on our own campus, post-secondary education has steadily come under attack over recent years. Harmful legislation, chronic government underfunding and out of touch administrators making decisions that harm universities’ education and research missions have contributed to a postsecondary education crisis across the country. Academic staff and students are fighting back. This bulletin outlines resistance to these attacks at uOttawa, Carleton University, York University and in the province of Nova Scotia. 

1) Enrolment Suspensions and Members’ Resistance at uOttawa

Citing low enrolment numbers, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts announced in 2020 an initial suspension of uOttawa’s School of Translation and Interpretation’s four-year Honours Bachelor in Translation, beginning in the 2021-2022 academic year. The Faculty then implemented further suspensions across almost all offered programs in December 2022. Thanks to a quick response by members of the School of Translation and Interpretation, their PhD and Master of Conference Interpreting (MCI) programs were saved but the majority of their programs are still currently suspended. Furthermore, as a result of the federal governments cap on international students, who make up the majority of applicants to the School’s PhD program, the Vice-Dean, Programs announced in October 2024 that enrolment has again been suspended. Therefore, the MCI is currently the School’s only program for which enrolment has not been suspended.

The administration’s approach to the Schoof of Translation and Interpretation’s programs has not only created a climate of confusion, leaving many to believe the School itself had been completely shut down, it also constitutes a direct attack on uOttawa’s mission and responsibilities regarding the protection and promotion of bilingualism and Francophonie. 

Members of the School of Translation and Interpretation are now fighting for approval to modify their Master and PhD offerings so that they can be held online and made more accessible to a larger number of potential students. They hope that this, in addition to a new professionally oriented Master of Translation anticipated to launch in 2026, will help their School recover from the harmful suspensions imposed by the administration.

During the most recent round of collective bargaining, the APUO submitted proposals to confirm the role of Senate in program enrolment suspensions, which the Employer rejected. 

2) Carleton University Academic Staff Association (CUASA) Call for Solidarity

The Carleton University Academic Staff Association (CUASA) has been bargaining with their employer for the past five months. They are facing many of the same issues on campus that APUO members have been experiencing such as ballooning class sizes, fewer teaching assistants and reduced support staff. CUASA members are also fighting for the inclusion of mental health services in their benefits and fairer wages.

CUASA has launched a petition and is calling for fellow faculty associations to add their support. We encourage members to answer the call by signing here.

3) York University Workers and Students Resist Program Suspensions

At 5 p.m. on Friday, February 14, York University announced the temporary suspension of new admissions to 20 programs, resulting in concerns from faculty, librarians, staff and students that these suspensions will be used to justify program cuts in the future. The York University Faculty Association (YUFA), the York Federation of Students (YFS) and the campus community at large quickly mobilized to oppose these suspensions. 

YUFA also called on fellow associations across the country to write to the York administration denouncing the suspensions. The APUO sent a letter to York administrators condemning the suspension of the 20 programs and passed a motion in support of YUFA’s efforts to have the decision reversed.

On February 27, the university Senate voted to hold the program suspensions in abeyance until “a framework for guiding the assessment of program sustainability has been reviewed and endorsed by Senate.”¹ A group of York University senators is seeking a judicial review of the administration’s decision to suspend the programs and during a General Meeting on March 19, YUFA members passed a motion of non-confidence in the York University senior administration and Board of Governors by 99%.

The APUO continues to support the York community’s call to reverse the enrolment suspensions to the 20 programs.  You can join this call by writing to York’s senior administration and Board of Governors.

4) Unprecedented Government Overreach on Nova Scotia Campuses

In Nova Scotia, academic workers and students are organizing to respond to the misleadingly named Bill 12 – An Act Respecting Advanced Education and Research, a proposed legislation with far-reaching consequences for the province’s post-secondary system. The Association of Nova Scotia University Teachers (ANSUT) published a briefing document explaining in detail how, if passed, Bill 12 “would grant the Minister of Advanced Education unprecedented authority over university governance, research priorities, and institutional decision-making”, including complete authority to direct research priorities, the power to restructure university boards and appoint up to 50% of the members, and the ability to force any university into a revitalization plan. 

This legislation is not only a significant threat to Nova Scotian faculty, librarians and students but sets a dangerous precedence for every other province in the country.

ANSUT has also launched a campaign to oppose Bill 12, which includes a call for solidarity from faculty and university workers across Canada. In particular, ANSUT encourages fellow academic workers to send a letter to Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston and Minister Of Advanced Education Brendan O. Maguire. Add your voice to the growing chorus of academic workers and students opposing Bill 12!

1. Senate of York University, February 27 2025 Meeting Synopsis, p.2: https://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/wp-content/uploads/sites/107/2025/03/Senate-synopsis-20250227.pdf