The College Employer Council (CEC) and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), representing faculty at Ontario’s public colleges, have entered conciliation as they navigate more than 200 union demands in ongoing contract negotiations. Talks have been underway since July, with both parties striving to address concerns surrounding workload and staffing.
The CEC claims that OPSEU’s proposals would significantly impact faculty time with students and lead to substantial costs for the college sector. “Faculty are the backbone of the College sector and deserve to be recognized for their hard work and dedication to students,” said Dr. Laurie Rancourt, Chair of the Management Bargaining Team. She noted that CEC’s proposals include changes based on findings from a jointly established workload taskforce, which highlighted shifts in teaching modalities and increased demands on faculty time due to hybrid and flexible (hyflex) teaching models.
Key union demands include hiring additional full-time faculty, reducing the maximum assigned teaching time for full-time professors from 12.01 hours to 8.76 hours per week, and increasing the number of professional development days by 50%. According to the CEC, these proposals would necessitate a 50% increase in full-time teaching staff and a 233% increase in full-time counsellors and librarians.
Graham Lloyd, CEO of the CEC, expressed concerns about the potential for a strike. “The students and college system do not need a strike to address the Faculty Bargaining Team’s demands,” Lloyd said. He urged faculty members to review both sets of proposals ahead of the scheduled strike vote next week. “We remain optimistic that conciliation can help us find a path forward,” he added, while also noting that some union locals had begun preparations for a strike mandate even before negotiations began.
The last collective agreement between the two parties expired in 2024, though its provisions remain in effect as talks continue. Both the CEC and OPSEU have made their proposals publicly available on the CEC’s website for faculty review.
The outcome of these discussions will impact staffing and teaching structures across Ontario’s 24 publicly funded colleges, affecting thousands of students and faculty members as the academic year unfolds.