OCAD Faculty Association

This is your one-stop shop for all information concerning OCADFA’s efforts to negotiate a new MoA with the OCAD University Administration.

About Bargaining The OCAD University Faculty Association (OCADFA) represents all faculty and academic staff at OCAD, with over 600 members. Our collective agreement (referred to as a Memorandum of Agreement, or MoA), expired on June 30, 2025.

A grievance is an allegation made by OCADFA, generally on behalf of itself and one of its members, that the Employer has violated the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) or an applicable policy or legislation. Such a violation may follow from the Employer’s interpretation, application, or administration of the policy in question.

If you have a concern, you should contact us.
www.ocadfa.ca/about/grievance-faqs

OCADFA stands in solidarity with cleaning workers at OCAD University who are on strike for fair wages and dignity on the job. The workers are employed by Dexterra and represented by LiUNA Local 183. Although Dexterra, not OCAD University is the employer in this dispute, we encourage the university to use its influence to help facilitate a fair resolution.

"OCAD University runs on the labour of many. We teach in classrooms others clean. We work in spaces others maintain. When one group of workers is in struggle, none of our work stands alone”.
— Min Sook Lee, OCADFA President

Read the full statement:
www.tinyurl.com/SolidarityDCW

This is the final step in a painful 5-year journey. The CCAA process caused deep harm to Laurentian faculty, staff, and Sudbury. Thanks to strong advocacy, inappropriate corporate restructuring can no longer be used at public universities.

https://lnkd.in/gJMYypik

Introducing OCADFA’s new TA/RA Director, Sundus Salamé (Faculty of Art)!

"Teaching Assistants, along with Instructors, are University-associated faces that students most often see and interact with. We are in the studios and classrooms feeling the effects of increased class sizes and decreased studio access alongside the students. We occasionally receive misdirected blame for the University’s shortcomings by well-meaning students who are unaware of our working constraints."

Dreams & Realities of Being a TA at OCAD By Sundus Salamé (Faculty of Art), OCADFA TA/RA Director I have never gone a day without my standard (un?)healthy routine of questioning and affirming myself and my teaching. Before coming to OCAD to pursue my master’s, I taught ceramics for 7 years at a pottery studio.

This news reveals how much public money was directed to private career colleges instead of supporting students at Ontario’s public universities. Now, OSAP grant cuts are forcing students and families to take on more debt at a time when affordability is already a major challenge.

Ontario spent $465M more on OSAP last year. 95% of that went to private career college students, docs show | CBC News When Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government drastically cut student assistance grants earlier this year, it cited "unsustainable" costs, but new figures show nearly all of the recent growth was among career college students. Opposition critics say that points to a problem of the government's own mak...

Introducing OCADFA’s new Director-at-Large, John Friere (Faculty of Arts and Science)!

Labour, Tech, and Inclusion: Building Equitable Workplaces Through Design By John Friere (Faculty of Arts and Science), OCADFA Director-at-Large My name is John Freire, and I am a senior product designer with a background that bridges design, technology, and inclusive thinking. I was born and raised in Brazil and moved to Canada in 2019 to continue my education and expand

Beautiful Trouble Award Winner 2026

Congratulations to Jugraj (Jug) Singh Khinda, recipient of this year’s Beautiful Trouble Award at OCAD U’s 15th Annual Student Leadership Awards. Supported by OCADFA, the award recognizes students who challenge structural inequality and push for material change within and beyond the university.

A student in Industrial Design, Jug has been a sharp and persistent advocate for students across multiple levels of university governance. His work combined organizing, policy advocacy and collective action to push for greater accountability and more equitable conditions at OCAD U. Among the changes recognized was his role in challenging restrictive thesis prerequisites in Industrial Design, helping open clearer pathways to graduation for students.

The Beautiful Trouble Award recognizes students willing to take risks, disrupt entrenched power and build momentum for critical change — both inside and outside the university. It honours organizing rooted in courage, solidarity and the belief that institutions are transformed when people refuse to accept the status quo.

The following list is meant to help you get started finding the plan that works best for you, neither I, nor OCADFA, endorse any particular insurance provider, and we are not in a position to give you personalized advice.

What do I do when my SunLife benefits are cut off at age 70? By Graeme Reniers, OCADFA Executive Director I wrote about why our benefits coverage at end at age 70 our February 2025 Dispatch and how this was an evolving area of employment and human rights law. Unfortunately, a few legal challenges since then aiming to end this age-discrimination practice has f

Michelle Miller (Faculty of Arts & Science) and Suzanne Morrissette (Faculty of Arts & Science) represented OCADFA at the 100th Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Council meeting. These are their reflections.

CAUT 100: OCADFA Reporting from Ottawa By Michelle Miller (Faculty of Arts & Science) and Suzanne Morrissette (Faculty of Arts & Science) We represented OCADFA at the 100th Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Council meeting, with Suzanne as our official delegate (voting power, baby!) and Michelle as backup. We were ready