FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JULY 2, 2025
GUELPH, ON – The Central Student Association (CSA), the undergraduate student union at the University of Guelph, is deeply concerned about the provincial government’s recently introduced Bill 33, Supporting Children and Students Act, 2025. This legislation, if passed, would significantly expand the Ontario government’s authority over postsecondary institutions – including new powers to regulate student fees and require universities to use ‘merit-based admissions’, without providing guidance as to their definition of ‘merit’.
At a time when students across Ontario are facing rising housing costs, food insecurity, and under-resourced mental health supports, Bill 33 threatens to undermine the very services that help students meet their basic needs and succeed in school. These services (for example, food banks, safe walk programs, menstrual equity initiatives, and sexual violence supports) are overwhelmingly funded through ancillary fees that students democratically approve and that student unions and campus groups administer.
At the University of Guelph, the CSA relies on these fees to operate critical services like the CSA FoodBank, which supports hundreds of students facing food insecurity each year, and our vast network of student clubs, which support connection, belonging, and mental well-being. These essential services are not provided by the University or the government – they exist because students collectively choose to fund them. Programs like these are built by students, for students.
Bill 33 seeks to allow the Ontario Government to unilaterally determine which student fees are permitted, which are prohibited, and how much can be charged. These regulations echo the Ford government’s failed 2019 Student Choice Initiative (SCI). Under the SCI, students were allowed to opt-out of paying certain ancillary fees, including those funding student unions and all of the critical services they provide. The SCI was ultimately struck down by the courts in 2019, and again in 2021, affirming that the government had overstepped its legal authority and violated institutional autonomy.
“Bill 33 is a dangerous attempt to reintroduce the same threats posed by the Student Choice Initiative, dressed up in legislative clothing,” said Nate Broughton, President of the CSA. “Let’s be very clear – ancillary fees are not what’s making education unaffordable. The real problem is Ontario’s chronic underfunding of postsecondary education.”
Ontario has consistently ranked dead last in Canada for per-student public funding of its post-secondary education system for the better part of the past four decades. This chronic underfunding has led academic institutions to rely heavily on tuition and other sources of revenue to fund their operations, and contributes directly to institutional budget shortfalls, program cuts, and campus closures. Rather than addressing these systemic issues, Bill 33 would introduce new bureaucratic hurdles and red tape that distract from the urgent need for stable, public funding.
Bill 33’s requirement for institutions to establish “merit-based” admissions policies is deeply troubling. The admissions process currently works because it combines considerations of merit and equity. While Bill 33 frames the change as a measure to promote transparency, it is in fact a clear attack on equity-based admissions practices that support access for marginalized students. These practices are necessary to ensure that postsecondary education is open to those historically and currently excluded – particularly Indigenous, Black, racialized, disabled, and first-generation students. The vague nature of Bill 33 opens the door for the provincial government to redefine “merit” in narrow, exclusionary terms, ignoring lived experience, community impact, and the inequalities students face long before they reach the application stage.
“Equity-based admissions are not a threat to academic excellence – they are a condition of it,” said Broughton. “We cannot allow a vague policy on ‘merit’ to be used as a backdoor attack on access and inclusion.”
At the University of Guelph (as with all Ontario universities), admissions policy falls under the jurisdiction of the Senate, as outlined in the University of Guelph Act, 1964. Allowing the Ministry to override those standards would be a direct infringement on the University’s academic autonomy. Academic independence is vital for a healthy postsecondary system. It protects research, teaching, and admissions from political interference, ensuring decisions are grounded in academic expertise, not shifting government priorities.
In response to Bill 33, the CSA is calling on the Ontario Government to immediately rescind Bill 33 and respect student union autonomy. The CSA further urges the province to invest in long-term, sustainable funding for postsecondary education, rather than shifting blame onto student fees and attacking institutional autonomy.
“This bill is not only a step backwards but is an attempt to repackage a policy that is a clear attack on student autonomy and that was already struck down by the courts. Bill 33 undermines campus equity, student services, and institutional autonomy. Ontario students deserve better,” said Broughton.
The CSA remains committed to defending student services, supporting equity in education, and protecting student democracy on campus.
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The Central Student Association represents over 25,000 undergraduate students at the University of Guelph. As a student-led, not-for-profit organization, the CSA advocates for student interests and provides essential services, supports, and advocacy on campus.
For further information, please contact:
Nate Broughton
CSA President
[email protected]
