The primary purpose of the University of Calgary Students’ Union has changed dramatically over the years. Advocating for student issues is now at the heart of everything we do. The SU continually works on advocacy campaigns throughout the year, often working with or lobbying all levels of government, as well as UCalgary’s administration. While issues like tuition, housing, and mental health are always ongoing campaigns, some are more timely and may not be immediately reflected here.
Are you interested in getting involved with any of our campaigns? See our Advocacy home page for general ideas, or email your VP External at suvpext@ucalgary.ca to learn more about the below.
Who we work with: UCalgary | City of Calgary | Government of Alberta
Canada has the worst housing to population ratio in the G7, and students are among those struggling to find shelter. There’s 1 on-campus bed to every 10 students in Canada, so it’s little wonder than an estimated 1.2 million students are active in rental markets around their campuses. The ratio is worse at UCalgary; it was able to house 1 in 12 of its 2023 intake.
A scarcity of student housing impacts everyone. Research has found that few students live alone, and they’ll pay 25% more rent than other groups to secure a place, meaning they can team up on the open market and price out other demographics. It’s little wonder that 9.1% of Canadian students and 25% of international students living in Calgary are living in overcrowded housing.
Students are forced to accept substandard conditions just to have somewhere to live while they complete their degree. 43% have lived in housing in need of repair; 17% have felt unsafe at some point in their dwelling.
Given that Calgary’s rental vacancy rate is projected to hover below 2% until 2027, purpose-built student housing is more necessary than ever to keep students safe and free up demand for existing stock. The City of Calgary pledged millions to invest in student housing in Downtown in 2023, but UCalgary has yet to publicly take advantage of this scheme or express plans to engage.
- Build or allocate affordable housing units for students, through co-operation between the University and City.
- Use landlord licensing to ensure existing rentals are safe and well-maintained; include incentives for landlords who rent to students or commit to affordable housing.
- Introduce rental caps and tenant protections in-line with comparator provinces, providing stability and predictability for students and all Albertans.
- Establish a fund for the construction of affordable student housing, achieved through co-operation between the University, City and Province.
- Prioritize redesignation or rezoning projects that promote densification near the university.
Who we work with: UCalgary | Government of Alberta
Students at UCalgary are facing their fifth year of consecutive tuition increases. For the 2024/25 academic year, the average domestic undergraduate taking a full-time
Studying in Alberta in general means students can expect to pay 7% more tuition than the national average and graduate with 19% more debt. This doesn’t mean they’re getting value for money. 2010 graduates could expect to earn $63,000 within 3 years of graduating; 2020 graduates could expect to earn $65,000. After accounting for inflation, this equals a 19% decrease in the value of a degree.
Students deserve to know the approximate cost of their four-year degree, yet they have not had the certainty required to plan a budget since 2019. Provincial investment into post-secondary funding has significantly decreased, resulting in much of the burden falling on students via rising tuition.
- Stronger regulation for tuition increases for all students, domestic and international.
- Implement stronger regulation for Exceptional Tuition Increases (ETIs).
- Require institutions to demonstrate, through data-based reporting, how programs have improved through reliance on student tuition dollars.
Who we work with: UCalgary | Government of Alberta
Mental health is a pressing student concern, with most post-secondary students falling within the highest-risk age group for mental illnesses. Current mental health funding from the provincial government is not equitable. Funding for mental health should be allocated based on the number of students at a particular institution to ensure consistency across campuses and accessible programming. This funding should go strictly to frontline programs and services that students access.
- Consult with students and institutions to determine a per capita amount for student mental health funding and consistently fund institutions based on the number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) enrolled at an institution.
- Require institutional reporting to ensure that funding is going to the frontline mental health services students are using.
- Extend the Government of Alberta’s Post-secondary investment into mental health services to allow for continued mental health supports on campus.
Who we work with: Government of Alberta
The unemployment rate for Albertans aged 15 to 25 has eclipsed the national average since late 2022. This may be one reason why 85% of Albertan students report needing to borrow money to attend post-secondary education. By living in Alberta, they will pay 7% more tuition than the national average and graduate with 19% more debt. Summer work opportunities therefore present a great benefit to students, whether it’s cushioning their wallets or bolstering their résumé for future work opportunities.
Yet the Government of Alberta scrapped the long-running Summer Temporary Employment Program (STEP), first introduced in 1972, in 2019. This program connected students to employers for temporary work opportunities. Since then, Alberta has announced two jobs programs that students are not eligible for. Given that the province cut over half a billion dollars in post-secondary funding between 2019 and 2023, resulting in eye-watering tuition hikes, cutting STEP added insult to injury for struggling students.
- Reinstate the STEP program to help connect students to employers.
- Alternatively, ensure students can be eligible for the job subsidies included in the Jobs Now program.
- Work with student groups to provide a program to support student summer work.
- Implement employment programs similar to B.C. and Ontario that offer temporary positions in the provincial public service and other fields for students.
Who we work with: UCalgary | Government of Alberta | Government of Canada
As defined by the United Nations, sustainability is the principle of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The SU recognises this to be an intersectional issue that requires consideration of social responsibility, human rights, and Indigenous reconciliation.
Your SU is active in maintaining sustainability initiatives around Mac Hall, and encouraging other bodies to follow suit. Got a sustainability idea of your own? We run a Sustainability Fund to aid eligible initiatives.
- Consultation with the University’s Office of Sustainability to exchange ideas and support for sustainability initiatives, news and existing.
- Promotion of sustainability initiatives from all layers of government, to make the University, province and country more sustainable on all fronts.
Who we work with: Government of Alberta | Government of Canada
The average undergraduate in Alberta is aged between 17 and 27. There’s an 85% chance they needed to borrow money to pursue higher education, but choosing to study in Alberta means they can expect to graduate with 24% more debt than the national average. Programs that could have helped their finances were cut in recent years, such as the 2020 elimination of Alberta’s tuition tax credit. Alberta Student Aid also scrapped grants for undergraduates, meaning they only qualify for loans—with interest.
Federal:
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- Extend the grace period on the repayment of federal student loans from 6 months to 1 year or more, to provide breathing room for graduates to organise their finances.
- Modernise the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program (CFSA) application process to consider parental/spousal expenses, or eliminate consideration of parental/spousal contributions altogether.
- Introduce greater supports for victims of parental and intimate relationship abuse to secure student aid.
Provincial:
- Introduce grants that are available to undergraduate students, and adjust the ratio of grants and loans offered by Alberta Student Aid.
- Eliminate interest on loans from Alberta Student Aid, to bring Alberta in-line with the federal government and comparable provinces.
- Introduce avenues to student debt forgiveness for people in a wider range of professions, ensuring Alberta retains skilled graduates and diversifies its labour market.
- Adjust the threshold for the Repayment Assistance Plan, and standardise Alberta Student Aid’s practice of separating parental contributions from the calculation of loan or grant entitlements.
Who we work with: UCalgary | Government of Alberta
According to federal statistics from 2020, 11% of women and 4% of men studying at post-secondary institutions in Canada experience sexual assault. 71% of all students witnessed or experienced unwanted sexualised behaviours, either on campus or in online situations involving students or people associated with their school. Reports of sexual assault are especially high during the first six to eight weeks of the fall semester at post-secondary institutions.
Students deserve to feel safe, respected, and welcome in their learning environments free from all forms of violence. This must be reflected in funding, policy, and programming, with ongoing commitments made by all layers of government and University leadership.
- Foster awareness and education through a province-wide campaign around consent at Alberta post-secondary institutions, sponsored by the Ministry of Advanced Education.
- Create a working group that allows stakeholders and representatives to contribute to long-term plans.
- Prioritise province-wide educational campaigns and programming to address disproportionately high rates of violence during the beginning of the academic year.
- Provide consistent and equitable funding to support survivors and sexual and gender-based violence prevention plans that are sustainable and long-term.
- Implement housing solutions and investment into university residences to support students seeking emergency or temporary housing accommodations.
Who we work with: UCalgary | Government of Alberta
The University’s reporting on how it spends student dollars acquired from MNIFs is lacking. Reporting on the 2022/23 fiscal year provided an overview of amounts spent without demonstrating value for money. Furthermore, it is unclear to students and student leaders what is, can, and cannot be included in student service fee spending. We therefore want to see reporting on the Student Services, Campus Recreation, and Dinos Athletics fees that adequately inform students on where their money goes.
- The university is not able to increase MNIF fees beyond inflation in a given year.
- Annual reports on the spending of fee revenue include justification of significant increases to spending in departments.
- The university should set out certain metrics to achieve with the spending of fee revenue.
- The university should consult with the SU on what items can be included in MNIF spending and require the consent of students to add in additional initiatives or departments.
- The Dinos account to the university’s Tuition and Fees Consultation Committee, providing annual reports on how student dollars are spent as well as efforts to diversify revenue streams. Should no additional benefit to students be demonstrated, the athletics fee should not be optional.
Who we work with: UCalgary | Government of Alberta
The University suggests that students should reserve $600 for textbooks alone per academic year, which is a tough pill to swallow amidst a cost-of-living crisis. Open Educational Resources (OERs) are free-to-access legal educational materials, such as materials residing in the public domain or publications released from copyright, that can profoundly impact the cost, quality and accessibility of education.
- Support from the University to increase the creation, distribution and accessibility of OERs; efforts to adapt existing learning materials into OERs.
- More integration of OERs into platforms maintained by the City of Calgary, using existing technology solutions within its libraries to execute OER distribution and access.
- Provincial support for educational stakeholders in OER access, creation and distribution, including promoting OERs in provincial education policy priorities.
- Federal promotion of OER awareness, and engagement with international partners to evolve the legalities of OER creation and distribution.