Hello all,
If June was a month of beginnings, July has been a month of conversations. With the Legislature on summer recess, this is often when the real relationship-building happens: MPPs are back in their communities and more available for a sit-down, and government relations work shifts from the halls of Queen's Park to ridings across the province. I've spent a good part of this month doing exactly that: showing up, listening, and making sure OUSA's advocacy priorities for the year stay front of mind for the people who can act on them.
This month, we had the chance to sit down with the Honourable Minister Nolan Quinn (Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry) of the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security (MCURES). It was a valuable opportunity to walk him through OUSA's 2026-2027 advocacy priorities and to make the case for why they deserve real attention and investment as we head into the fall. We had an especially productive discussion about work-integrated learning and the ways to increase opportunities for students. It will be great to continue building this relationship with the Ministry, and we're looking forward to more conversations with Minister Quinn's office in the months to come.
We also met with MPP Tyler Watt (Nepean), the Liberal Critic for Training, Colleges and Universities; MPP Peggy Sattler (London West), the NDP Critic for Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security; and MPP Aislinn Clancy (Kitchener Centre), Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Ontario, near my home institution in the Waterloo Region.
Four very different conversations, but a consistent thread running through each: genuine interest in the issues we are working to address through our recommendations, and real concern for what students are navigating the post-secondary environment right now. In every meeting, we walked through OUSA's advocacy priorities this year and made the case for why they deserve real attention and investment as we head into the fall. An incredible thanks goes out to all four for their time and willingness to engage; hearing from every party at Queen's Park in the same month is a good reminder that student affordability isn't, and shouldn't be, a partisan issue.
This month also saw the release of OUSA's newest policy paper, Accountability & System Vision, passed by student delegates at our Fall General Assembly at Laurentian University this past October. It's a paper about the parts of the post-secondary system that students don't always see day to day, but that shape their experience all the same: how our colleges and universities are governed, funded, and held to account. It covers student representation on university boards and senates, the Strategic Mandate Agreements that tie institutional funding to performance metrics, and the state of ombudsperson and mediation offices on our campuses, among other issues. At its core, the paper makes the case that students, as the people with the most at stake, deserve a real seat at the table when these systems are designed. You can read the full paper here.
Alongside all of this, our Steering Committee also met this month and approved the campaigns OUSA will focus on for the rest of the governing year, turning our 2026-27 advocacy priorities into concrete plans of action. More details on what these campaigns look like as they roll out in the months ahead.
This month, our summer research interns, Chavi and Olivia, began the participant research stage of their capstone projects. Chavi launched a survey on transit and safety in Waterloo Region, open to students at the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University. If that's you, you can fill it out here. Olivia conducted two focus groups on burnout and mental health, creating space for students to speak openly about what's affecting their well-being during their studies.
Looking ahead, OUSA is deep in the planning stages for a Sector Stakeholder Day on August 21st, an opportunity to bring partners from across the post-secondary sector into the same room to keep these conversations going together. More details to follow, so stay tuned.
Thanks for reading. As always, feel free to reach me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Rory Norris
President, Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA)