Ontario extends OSAP funding to York U students
Extra financial help for York U students

Students are back in class, trying to catch up at York University, and the contractual dispute is now in the hands of an arbitrator. Many students are looking at ways they can help offset the costs of the labour dispute. Said my colleague, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities John Milloy recently, "We want to ensure students at York who are receiving OSAP get the help they need to complete their studies this year." Here is an update:

Ontario is providing extra financial help to Ontario Student Assistance Program recipients affected by the recent strike at York University. The Province will extend payments to students receiving aid through OSAP to cover their additional expenses for the longer study period.

For students in a typical two-term study period, the first $7,000 of their OSAP support for the academic year is provided as a repayable loan. Any assistance above $7,000 is provided as a non-repayable Ontario Student Opportunity Grant.

About 13,000 York students are expected to benefit from this OSAP extension. About 5,300 of these students will not be required to repay this assistance, as they will qualify for an Ontario Student Opportunity Grant. York University announced additional support for students through a $5 million bursary program to help them complete the academic year, as well as provide assistance for next fall. In addition, York will allow students to drop a course and transfer those tuition fees toward another course over the next year. York will also be extending housing in residence at no additional cost.

York University strike recap

On January 29, the Ontario Legislature has passed legislation that requires an end to the deadlocked labour dispute, and requires York University to resume its normal operations. The York University Labour Disputes Resolutions Act, 2009 governs the labour disputes between York University and three bargaining units from the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3903 (CUPE 3903). The act comes into force on Royal Assent. The Liberals and the Conservatives voted in favour of the Act. The NDP voted against it.

The legislation required any strike or lock-out at York University to be terminated immediately. Striking York University workers did return to their jobs. All outstanding issues were referred to binding arbitration.

Some people connect the dots that because primary and secondary education is funded by the Government of Ontario, that the Province has a magic wand to wave in this particular labour dispute.

Ontario's Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities has no direct involvement in the university collective bargaining process. Each university is an independent entity, responsible for its own labour relations and human resource issues. This includes collective bargaining. During a labour dispute at an Ontario university, the only legal action that the Province can take is to provide a conciliator to urge the parties to keep the keep the best interests of the students in mind, and to work toward a resolution.

It took the failure of collective bargaining to serve as the reason for the recall of the Ontario Legislature.

Posted or revised: February, 2009