Indigenous, Black, and racialized CUPE women and non-binary members: are you ready for WILD?!

https://cupe.ca/indigenous-black-and-racialized-cupe-women-and-non-binary-members-are-you-ready-wild

Applications are now open for the first ever national Women in Leadership Development program

Our time is now! Break barriers and dive into leadership in our union and our communities.

Women in Leadership Development (WILD) is a feminist leadership and skills-building union education program designed for Indigenous, Black, and racialized women and non-binary members of CUPE.

WILD is designed to support you as you strengthen your skills in feminist leadership, thinking and acting strategically, communicating with confidence, taking risks, and building relationships across regions and sectors. The program begins with your lived experience, uses collective learning and will encourage you to step into leadership in ways that feel authentic and sustainable. Together we will build capacity and help you become the creative and courageous leaders our movement needs!

WILD began as part of the Anti-racism Organizational Action Plan of CUPE Ontario in 2022. In 2025, National Secretary-Treasurer Candace Rennick announced that WILD would become a national program. And that time has COME!

If you are a CUPE member in good standing and answer yes to the questions below, we welcome you to apply!

  • Do you have lived experience as an Indigenous, Black, or racialized woman or non-binary person?
  • Are you new to activism or do you have leadership experience?
  • Do you want to make a difference in your community?

About the program:

  • An online orientation session
  • Two in-person weeklong sessions
  • A mix of in-person and online learning sessions (1-2 days)
  • One-on-one and group mentorship
  • Development of an innovative leadership project
  • Lifetime connections!

If you are a woman member who is not Indigenous, Black or racialized, you may be interested in Women Breaking Barriers, CUPE’s 9-hour workshop on women’s oppression, politics and social change. For more information and to see when this and other courses are being offered in your region, consult our Union Education catalogue.

For more information and to apply, please click on the link for your region.

Note: if you need accommodations to complete this form, contact WILD@cupe.ca on or before March 26, 2025 to allow for proper response time.

March General Membership Meeting

General Membership Meeting
Wednesday, March 18th at 4:30pm – Hybrid

Agenda items include:
Nominations for all elected positions –
President
Vice-President, Unit 1  
Vice-President, Graduate Students
Vice-President, Unit 1 Instructors
Vice-President, Units 2 & 3
Vice -President, Unit 4
Vice -President, Unit 5
Treasurer
Lead Steward, Unit 1
Lead Steward, Units 2 & 3
Lead Steward, Unit 4
Lead Steward, Unit 5
Recording Secretary
Outreach Officer
Equity Officer
Health & Safety Officer
Deputy Health & Safety Officer
Trustee (term ending April 30, 2029)

Register in Advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/DBvIJehIRlaWpCnWopDgjA#/registration

You’ll receive your confirmation email with the Zoom link and location of in person meeting.

You must be a Member in Good Standing to attend union meetings or to run for a union position. Click HERE for more information.

All Workers Luncheon – Brock Workers Against Attacks

Brock Workers United Against Attacks

Cuts to jobs are attacks on workers & students alike.

Thurs, March 12th: 12-1pm in the Pond Inlet

Join an all-worker luncheon to exchange updates, strengthen solidarity, and plan our collective response.

Silence helps cuts.
Solidarity stops them.
All workers Welcome! JOIN US.

Reminder: February General Membership Meeting Tomorrow

February General Membership Meeting
Tuesday, February 24th @ 4:30 – in person and on Zoom.

A light dinner will be served for in person attendees.

Registration is required for all attendees, whether in person or online.

Advance registration (24 hours) is required to receive an electronic ballot for any elections (by 4:30 Monday).

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/6-g6wZeNSFSpcpxGSBClLA

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

A reminder that you must be a Member in Good Standing to participate in union meetings. More information HERE.

Agenda items include:
-Election of a Three Member Elections Committee
-Election of Delegates for the CUPE Ontario Convention May 26-30th, 2026
-Bargaining Updates for all Units

Ford Government passing the buck on university funding – students, workers and economy will pay the price

CUPE Media Release: Feb13th, 2026

The Ontario government made a funding announcement today that will continue deep staff cuts, rising tuition fees and increased student debt.

“The minister was long on scapegoating, but short on funding. Ontario has the worst university funding in Canada, and he’s passing the blame for his own cuts to other levels of government, and passing more and more of the costs onto the students, who are already graduating with record debt loads,” said Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario.

The funding announcement fails to catch up even with recommendations of the government’s hand-picked “Blue Ribbon Panel,” and does not make up for years of stagnant funding. In fact, today’s announcement will still leave post-secondary education $1.5 billion below what it was in 2018, once adjusted for inflation and student population.

Also concerning is the government’s ongoing pigeonholing of funding into job-specific training and not into areas that improve critical thought and advance basic research.

“It’s easy to say that funding engineering and tech job training is useful. But it ignores the reality that pure scientific research, the arts and many other fields actually drive most of the advances in our society and economy. We need proper funding for public universities and colleges, not more money funnelled into the pockets of people setting up dodgy private colleges,” said Colleen Ferrera, chair of CUPE Ontario’s university workers committee.

Per student, university funding for Ontario universities remains the lowest in Canada, by a wide margin.

With OSAP focusing more on loans than grants, it is also offloading more costs to students.

Underfunding led to widespread layoffs this year, including 50 percent of courses taught by contract instructors at some universities and a staggering announcement of a 30 percent cut to administrative staff at one university earlier this week.

U1 Grad Students: Claim Your Ticket to the GSA Starlight Gala

CUPE 4207 has purchased ten tickets to the GSA Starlight Gala that will be held on Sat, March 28, 2026.

Grad Students who are Members in Good Standing with the Local can claim a free ticket by emailing info@cupe4207.org (one ticket per member).

Tickets are being distributed on a first come, first serve basis.

Not a Member in Good Standing?  Click here for more information:
https://4207.cupe.ca/resources/member-in-good-standing/

Ontario lifting post-secondary tuition freeze, boosting funding

By The Canadian Press
Published: February 12, 2026 at 10:49AM EST

TORONTO — Ontario is giving colleges and universities billions in new funding, while lifting a seven-year tuition fee freeze and cutting back on the amount of student assistance grants.

The moves are in response to a post-secondary financial crisis, following years of low levels of government funding, stagnant domestic tuition levels since 2019 and sharply reduced numbers of international students and the high tuition fees institutions can charge them.

Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn has been reviewing the post-secondary funding formula and announced changes Thursday that will amount to $6.4 billion in additional money over four years.

“If we want Ontario to have a competitive workforce tomorrow, we need to strengthen our post-secondary institutions today, and that’s exactly what our government is doing,” Quinn said.

How will this impact tuition fees and grant funding

The additional funding includes money for 70,000 more seats for in-demand programs, increased funding for programs that are more expensive for the schools to offer and more per-student funding.

Colleges and universities will also be able to raise tuition fees by up to two per cent per year for the next three years. After that period of time, tuition fee increases will be limited to either two per cent or the average inflation rate, whichever is lower.

The government is also decreasing the proportion of grants offered through the Ontario Student Assistance Program, relying much more heavily on loans. The current proportion is about 85 per cent grants to 15 per cent loans, the government said, but starting this fall students will receive a maximum of 25 per cent of their OSAP funding as grants.

Why is the province doing this

Demand for OSAP has been rising significantly and the growth was unsustainable, Quinn said.

“This will ensure sustainability and balance for the system,” he said. “We want to ensure that all students in future generations have access to OSAP as well.”

In line with federal government changes, students at private career colleges will no longer be eligible for grants through OSAP, only loans.

How Ontario post-secondary intitutions are reacting

Representatives from universities and colleges said the funding and ability to implement “modest” tuition-fee increases will ease the pressures they were facing.

“This new investment strengthens the very foundation our universities provide, greater sustainability and long-term planning to support our students and local communities,” said Steve Orsini, president and CEO of the Council of Ontario Universities.

Colleges, which have been particularly hard hit by cuts to the number of international students, also welcomed the announcement.

“Ontario public college graduates are essential across a wide range of industries, including advanced manufacturing, construction, transportation, mining and energy and health care,” said Maureen Adamson, president and CEO of Colleges Ontario.

“College graduates are the boots on the ground. Skilled workers are needed more than ever, and this funding expands regional opportunities for learners and employers alike.”

https://www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/politics/queens-park/article/ontario-lifting-post-secondary-tuition-freeze-boosting-funding

The Future of Funding: Keeping Universities Public and Fighting Austerity

The Future of Funding: Keeping Universities Public and Fighting Austerity

Tues, Feb 24th 12pm-2pm

Plaza 600F

Lunch will be available beginning at 11:30 AM, with the presentation starting promptly at 12:00 PM.

This event is presented by BUFA, PACHRED’s Employment Equity Working Group, CUPE 4207, OCUFA, OSSTF, and the Social Justice Research Institute (SJRI), and features a keynote address by Jenny J.H. Ahn, Executive Director of OCUFA.

Additional event details and registration are available here: https://experiencebu.brocku.ca/event/321495