TORONTO, ON — The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF/FEESO) is condemning the devastating layoffs at Algoma University that have eliminated 86 support staff positions, reducing the OSSTF/FEESO Algoma University Support Staff (AUSS) bargaining unit by approximately 40 per cent in less than a year.
"These are not just numbers on a balance sheet,” said Michelle Dayboll, President of the OSSTF/FEESO Algoma University Support Staff bargaining unit. “These are 86 people whose livelihoods have been impacted, 86 workers who supported students every day, and 86 positions that help make Algoma University function."
The job losses come despite the Ford government's claims that its 2026 provincial budget includes historic investment in post-secondary education.
"The government can call it a historic investment, but there is nothing historic about funding that fails to keep pace with inflation," said OSSTF/FEESO President Martha Hradowy. "What is historic are the job losses at Algoma University. When 40 per cent of a support staff bargaining unit disappears in less than a year, something is profoundly wrong."
The layoffs are the direct result of years of the province's chronic underfunding of Ontario's post-secondary education system and demonstrate the real-world consequences of this government's funding decisions on workers, students, and communities.
"When workers lose their jobs, the impact extends beyond just the university and ripples throughout the entire community," said Dayboll. "Families lose income, local businesses lose customers, and communities lose skilled workers. The loss of 86 jobs will be felt throughout the communities of Sault Ste. Marie, Brampton, and Timmins.”
In Sault Ste. Marie in particular, these layoffs are coming at a time that the community is already grappling with job losses and economic uncertainty in other sectors.
Added Hradowy, "Support staff are essential to the student experience and to the operation of our universities. Every layoff means fewer student services and supports, greater strain on those who remain, and another blow to communities that depend on their local university as a source of good jobs and economic stability."
OSSTF/FEESO is calling on the Ford government to provide immediate funding support to reverse these layoffs, restore lost positions, prevent further job losses, and to develop a long-term plan to restore stable, sustainable funding for Ontario's universities.
The Federation is also calling on Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security Nolan Quinn to meet directly with affected workers and hear firsthand about the consequences of the government's funding policies.
"Premier Ford and Minister Quinn have visited Sault Ste. Marie repeatedly to announce investments and support jobs in other sectors," said Dayboll. "They should return to meet with the workers whose jobs have been lost because of a post-secondary education funding crisis created by their government. The funding crisis facing Ontario universities did not happen by accident. Our members deserve to be heard, and they deserve action."
OSSTF/FEESO stands in solidarity with its members at Algoma University and will continue advocating for the funding and support necessary to protect workers, students, and the future of publicly funded post-secondary education in Ontario.
OSSTF/FEESO, founded in 1919, has over 60,000 members across Ontario. They include public high school teachers, occasional teachers, educational assistants, continuing education teachers and instructors, early childhood educators, psychologists, secretaries, speech-language pathologists, social workers, plant support personnel, university support staff, and many others in education.