Policies

Post-secondary credentials support social mobility and equity by preparing students for the labour market or further studies; and a strong credit transfer system is an important element of an equitable, accessible, and diverse post-secondary sector. With the quickly evolving post-secondary landscape and growing transfer needs that have emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a perfect opportunity to revisit student mobility and credit transfer through investments in supports, growing and strengthening transfer pathways, and better understanding the needs of transfer students in the province.

All willing and qualified students should be able to pursue higher education in Ontario, yet some groups remain significantly underrepresented within the province’s post-secondary institutions. To address this issue, the provincial government should create a comprehensive access strategy aimed at ensuring equitable access to post-secondary, flexible pathways to university, improved outreach programs, increased guidance in secondary schools, and more comprehensive data regarding access initiatives and post-secondary attainment.

The need for a comprehensive framework to prevent and respond to gender-based violence on post-secondary campuses is long overdue. Everyone deserves to be able to safely pursue their education. All survivors—regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, income, or heritage—should be supported in ways that allow them to seek justice and heal in meaningful ways. Students and student associations have played a critical role in prevention and response work, providing programming, training, and support in response to the persistence of gender-based violence in the post-secondary context and have come together to propose the following recommendations to guide a provincial framework that addresses student concerns.

Student associations require autonomy over their operations in order to remain accountable to their members. This policy expresses student concerns over government intrusion onto the autonomy of student associations, most notably through the implementation of the Student Choice Initiative. It recommends that the provincial government recognize this autonomy and respect the right of universities and student associations to determine whether ancillary fees are set as mandatory or non-mandatory.