One of Canada’s biggest public sector unions is warning of massive cuts to college and faculty staff across Ontario. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union said nearly 10,000 college faculty and staff have either been laid off or are expected to lose their jobs. The union is calling it one of the largest mass layoffs in Ontario’s history.
The Centennial College Story Arts Centre Campus in Toronto is one of the facilities that’s scheduled to close this year. That’s where the public service employees' union President JP Hornick, addressed reporters.
“We need strong colleges today for the accessible, low-barrier job training that they offer, especially in the face of trade wars that are undercutting and restructuring our economy,” Hornick said. “But instead, they are bleeding jobs right under Ford’s nose. How is that standing up for working-class families? This is not about mismanagement. This is sabotage.”
Hornick said the 55,000-member union representing college faculty and support staff will fight. Some of the latest data suggests 23 out of 24 colleges in Ontario have seen a nearly 50 percent drop in first-semester enrollment.
An arbitrated contract chalks much of that up to the federal cap on international students. As of June 19, colleges have seen current and planned staff reductions of about 8,000 employees. Hornick said the cuts represent generational impacts.
The provincial government said the union claims are baseless, and billions of dollars in new funding have been funneled into the post-secondary sector. It blames unilateral changes by the federal government in Ottawa for imposing a cap on international students, leading to a decline in enrollment and tuition revenues.
The layoffs come as Canada’s national unemployment rate still hovers around 7%, its highest in nine years outside of the pandemic.
