Hello all,
If September is the month campuses come alive, October is the month the year gets real. The welcome banners come down, the first midterms and assignments land all at once, and for many students, the Thanksgiving long weekend was the first trip home since moving in. For many, a fall reading break offered a much-needed breather. October is also when the true cost of the year comes into focus: the first rent payments have cleared, OSAP funding has arrived, and students are finding out whether the numbers they planned around in August actually hold up. To everyone pushing through midterms right now, I wish you the very best of luck.
Last month I wrote that September was the listening part, and that October would be about carrying what we heard forward. That is what this month has been: finishing our fall campus tour, completing the end of our OSAP survey, and getting ready for Fall General Assembly.
Our fall campus tour wrapped up at McMaster University on October 19th, following September's stops at Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Waterloo, and Queen's University. The format was the same as before: a booth, a lot of conversations, and a simple pitch. OUSA is your student association's voice at Queen's Park, and the more students know that, the louder that voice gets.
Our campus visits were also a chance to gather responses for the second round of our OSAP student survey, run in collaboration with the College Student Alliance (CSA) and Ontario Student Voices (OSV). The first round captured how students were bracing for the August 1st changes. This round captured how they are actually living with them. The survey has now closed, having wrapped up on October 8th, and we are working through the results. To every student who took a few minutes to fill it out, whether at a booth or online, thank you. The results of the survey are being analysed, and will be used in our coming advocacy efforts.
One of the highlights of my month: I am thrilled to welcome the University of Ottawa Students' Union (UOSU) back to OUSA as an observer. This has been a few months in the making. At the end of August, our Executive Director, Octave Andrade-Dixon, and I presented to the UOSU Board of Directors, who voted in support of becoming OUSA observers. Our Steering Committee approved the observatory at its September meeting, and this month UOSU submitted its formal letter of intent, completing the process.
As well, our work with the Engineering Student Societies' Council of Ontario (ESSCO) on a memorandum of understanding came to a close this month with both parties signing on. As I shared in September, our priorities overlap on issues like work-integrated learning and the cost of unpaid placements, and those are exactly the conversations SE3 will be taking up at the General Assembly.
In just over a week, student leaders from across the province will meet at Queen's University for our Fall General Assembly, running November 5th to 8th. General Assembly is where OUSA's policy is made: delegates from every member association debate, amend, and ultimately vote on the papers that guide our advocacy for years to come.
This fall, delegates will be working on two papers. The first is Student Entrepreneurship, Employment, and Employability (SE3), which looks at how students move from the classroom into work, whether through jobs, co-op and placements, or building something of their own. With the future workforce named as one of our priorities this year, SE3 could not be more relevant. The second is our Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ Inclusion paper. Back in June, during Pride Month, I wrote that this paper would be reviewed and rewritten at the fall General Assembly. I am proud that we are following through, and that 2SLGBTQIA+ students will see their experiences reflected in policy that is current, grounded, and theirs.
Last month I asked you to keep an eye out for our 2026-2027 Steering Committee Action Plan, and it is now live. You can read it here, alongside our past Action Plans. The Action Plan turns the priorities I have been writing about since June (OSAP reform, student affordability and basic needs, and preparing students for the future workforce) into concrete commitments for the year. It is our roadmap, and I would encourage every student to give it a look.
This month we also published two of our Spring 2026 policy papers, each with a short brief for anyone who wants the highlights. The first, Tuition, Ancillary, and Incidental Fees, looks at everything students are charged, from tuition and ancillary fees to meal plans, residence, course materials, and work-integrated learning. With the tuition freeze now lifted, it calls for tuition increases to stay capped at 2% or inflation, whichever is lower, and to be matched by proportional increases in financial aid. It also calls for standalone ancillary fee guidelines, clearer cost breakdowns for students, and a stronger student voice over the fees that fund student services.
The second, Artificial Intelligence, takes on a question every student is living with right now. It calls for every institution to have a standalone AI policy developed with students, an end to AI-detection tools in academic integrity cases given the risk of false accusations, funding for AI literacy for students and faculty alike, and for institutions, not students, to cover the cost of AI tools a course requires. With AI literacy part of our future workforce priority this year, this paper gives that work a clear, student-written foundation. Thank you to all the student authors and to our research team for bringing both papers over the finish line.
As OUSA approaches its 35th birthday next February, planning for our alumni event is moving ahead. Live, Laugh, Lobby has carried this organization for three and a half decades, and I cannot wait to celebrate it with the people who built it. We’ll be welcoming alumni to celebrate on December 4th, stay tuned for more details.
Lastly, Monday saw municipal elections across Ontario. Municipal councils shape so much of student life, from housing and zoning near campus to transit routes and local services. To every student who voted, many for the first time in their university town, thank you. And to every newly elected councillor and mayor, students are part of your community, and we look forward to working with you.
Good luck on midterms, take care of yourselves, and I will report back from the General Assembly next month.
Thanks for reading. As always, feel free to reach me at [email protected]
Sincerely,
Rory Norris
President, Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA)