Ontario’s 10,000 college support staff are on strike, with a loss of more than 650 programs across their system in 2025. Staff are fighting to restore public funding for Ontario’s colleges and are rallying against what they say is a scheme to privatize education.
Here’s the timeline of how the colleges got to this point.
Sept. 9, 2025:
Humber Polytechnic emailed their students about the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) potential work stoppage with information about the strike and picket line dates. The CEC says it made an enhanced offer to the union, but said the union insisted on its “poison pill” demands that make a deal impossible. The CEC says college enrolments and revenues are down by as much as 50 per cent, and OPSEU continues to insist on what it described as fiscally impossible demands.
Sept. 10, 2025:
Support staff workers practiced picketing on Sept. 10, 2025, at around noon at Humber’s North campus parking lot 13.
“The workers united will never be defeated!” they chanted as they walked the line.
Fredy Mejia, the president of OPSEU staff for local 563, representing part-time and full-time support staff at Humber, said it is important to understand that colleges belong to the community and are about public education, but that it looks like there’s a goal to privatize the education system.
“And not too many of us see it, but the writing is on the wall. And that's why we have to fight, not only for job security, [or] for each individual that works in this institution, but to the entire college system across the province,” he said.
Mejia said the bargaining began with little response from the College Employer Council, and that the response is unacceptable.
“Instead of focusing on what we were looking for, they introduced concessions that delayed the process of bargaining, and to this minute they haven't presented, that I'm aware of, something reasonable that we could take as a way of understanding that we are bargaining in good faith,” he said.
“And that's why we are pushing it as much as we can,” Mejia said.
Sept. 10, 2025, around 4 p.m.:
OPSEU President JP Hornick said OPSEU did what it could to try to reach a deal with the College Employer Council, but it stopped negotiating around 4 p.m.
Sept 11, 2025, at 12:01 a.m.:
Union members are notified by email that the strike began at 12:01 a.m.
Humber Polytechnic emailed its students at 2:13 a.m. to inform them that all classes would run as scheduled and that both Humber and the University of Guelph-Humber would remain open.
"While we are unable to predict how long the strike may last, please know that Humber and the University of Guelph-Humber are committed to student success, and we will ensure that all students have the opportunity to achieve their learning goals in a timely manner," the college stated in its email.
They said there was no impact on work placements, with some exceptions that’d be communicated directly, but to expect delays and plan accordingly as picket lines took place at campus entrances.
Sept 11, 2025, at 7 a.m.:
Picket lines began appearing around Humber’s North and Lakeshore campuses, with buses not crossing the lines. The buses unload passengers at temporary stops on Humber College Boulevard in front of Humber’s North campus.
Sept 11, 2025, at 10 a.m.:
OPSEU president JP Hornick said in a statement that the full-time college support staff have been forced out on a strike because the CEC refused to bargain.
“With unemployment at record highs across the province, it is unconscionable that this employer would rather force workers out on strike than to bargain,” they said.
“On strike today, we are here to stop the student crisis in our Ontario Community College. We are fighting to save quality student services for everyone-the students we serve today, but also the students of the future,” Hornick said.
They said CEC will not fight for the students, workers or the communities the colleges serve, but that the college support staff is willing to do so.
Hornick said it’s been 14 years since the college support staff had a picket line.
“This fight touches all of us. We are the college community, support staff, faculty, students, and allies together. Because without us, you cut the heart out of education, and that's what's been happening since the beginning of the year,” they said.
Hornick said colleges shed 10,000 jobs, while more than 650 programs were cancelled.
"We deserve a properly funded public college system, and our support staff deserve respect, job security, and decent working conditions. These are the things that should be afforded every worker in this province, and these are the things that the Ford government has abdicated their responsibility for," Hornick said.
"This is the fight of our lifetime. If we don't come together to stop the sell-off now, we're going to see the end of public post-secondary education in Ontario," they said.
Hornick said history shows that when ordinary people stand up, they can make incredible change happen.
Milos Vasic, president of Humber faculty union Local 562 and a professor in Liberal studies at Humber, said he was threatened with being fired for supporting the strike, as his bargaining unit is not on strike.
Vasic said that CEC and senior administration at all colleges are scared of the solidarity between faculty and support staff.
"The intimidation and threats that we've seen out of the College Employer Council coming down through the college presidents against union activists are unprecedented," Hornick said.
Sept 11, 2025, at 5:33 p.m.:
Humber Polytechnic emailed their students regarding the continuation of the strike and the protocols of approaching and crossing the picket lines.
"Please remember, these are our colleagues, people who support us every day and help students succeed at Humber. Please be kind, empathetic and patient," Humber said through an email at 5:33 p.m.
