The Communiqué – Volume 47, No. 14. August 22, 2025.
In This Issue:
- Efficiency & Accountability Review – Timeline & Letter to Deloitte
- Grievance Advisory: Attention Recent Retirees
- TA Ratios – Correspondence with Deputy Provost Khordoc
- Equity & Budget Cuts – Correspondence with President Tettey & Provost Rankin
- Pride March
- Labour Day March
- Meet Your New Officers
- CAUT News
- CUASA Summer Office Hours
Efficiency & Accountability Review – Timeline & Letter to Deloitte
This summer, the administration of Carleton University has been conducting an “Efficiency and Accountability Review” at the request of the Ontario Ministry of Colleges, Universities, and Research Excellence and Security (MCURES). Carleton is part of the second cohort of 12 universities to have received $ 500,000 each to do this.
The announcement of April 24 by the Provost and the Vice-President (Finance and Administration) was followed by an “EAF update” on June 5, indicating that Carleton had selected the firm Deloitte amongst the firms recommended by the Government to do the job. Since then, the consultants’ team has met with most of the 12 Resource Planning Committees (RPC) chairs and with some stakeholders they think are relevant to their information gathering process. In the meantime, RPCs are producing strategic plans on staffing requirements for the future, indicating opportunities for efficiencies of scale and scope.
CUASA and our two sister unions, CUPE 2424 and CUPE 4600, wrote a joint letter on May 9 to ask, “that the process of consultation put in place by the firm will be as meaningful as possible.”
On the 25th of July, in a letter by the Provost, all “Union Executive Boards” of Carleton campus were “given the opportunity to provide … written comments on behalf of your members” directly to Deloitte by August 15.
CUASA wrote immediately to the Provost to protest the short timeline, the limitations of the consultation process and the unnecessary delay in the consultants’ request for comments.
On July 28, CUASA wrote to the consultants to ask for guidance about the specific issues on which they would like comments. We also asked if it would be possible to have the benefit of a more formal interview and conversation, which would ensure that their firm can incorporate the feedback of our members in the most constructive way. Three days after, the consultants declined on both counts.
While the “Efficiency and Accountability Review” process initiated by the Ministry has been criticized by our provincial federation, OCUFA, as “a perverse efficiency that is detrimental to education” noting that “It is impossible for Ontario’s universities to do more with less” at a time when “Ontario’s universities, long cut to the bone, are the most efficient in Canada.” Non-the-less CUASA has submitted written comments to Deloitte on the five “themes” of the review:
- Governance, administrative and student services
- Academic Programming
- Physical Assets and Facilities
- Collaborative procurement opportunities
- Revenue-generating opportunities
Members are encouraged to read these comments in the letter to Deloitte and to continue to be in touch with CUASA ([email protected]) with any concerns about changes to workload or governance made in the name of efficiency moving forward.
Grievance Advisory: Attention Recent Retirees
CUASA recently filed a complaint on two issues affecting members who retired effective June 30, 2025:
- Carleton University did not pay employer pension contributions and did not withhold employee pension contributions on the post-bargaining retroactive salary increase payment made on July 14, 2025.
- Carleton University did not calculate pension benefits based on the post-bargaining 2024 salary for members who retired June 30, 2025.
The university’s actions with respect to these two issues has unfairly reduced pension benefits for the affected members. We thank the members who signalled these issues. and are scheduling a meeting to further discuss the matter with the university.
We recently reached out to as many recent retirees as we could, based on the documentation and contact information that was available to us, to create a list of affected retirees. Some retirees may not be affected even if they retired effective June 30, 2025, so it is important for us to review each potentially affected retiree’s individual circumstances. If you retired June 30, 2025, and have not been contacted about this matter yet, please send an email to Alex Aucoin, Grievance and Arbitration Officer, at [email protected].
TA Ratios – Correspondence with Deputy Provost Khordoc
In response CUASA’s President Dominique Marshall inquiry about the uncertainties created by the possible budget cuts for TAs this Fall, and their consequence for TA ratios, Deputy Provost Khordoc has responded:
“My understanding is that there is no directive requiring faculties to reduce the number of TAs, and that the TA assignments should be in keeping with previous years. This would also mean that there could be additional TAs assigned if the enrolments in some courses warrant it.”
Members are encouraged to be in touch with CUASA ([email protected]) if TA ratios for your courses are reduced or insufficient to match class size increases.
Equity & Budget Cuts – Correspondence with President Tettey & Provost Rankin
Conversations between CUASA President Dominique Marshall and President Tettey and Provost Rankinregarding equity issues at Carleton raised by our members continue. CUASA’s letter on equity of July 23received the following response from Provost Rankin on behalf of President Tettey. Continuing to hope for a more fulsome commitment from the administration we responded on August 5th.
CUASA is committed to continued work towards a more equitable campus. Please look to future Communiqués for updates.
Pride March – August 24
CUASA and CUPE 2424 will be marching with the Ottawa and District Labour Council (ODLC) and OPSEU Region 4 (Rainbow Alliance) for the 2025 Capital Pride Parade.
The parade will take place on Sunday August 24th from 1:00 – 4:00 pm.
Meet us at the staging area or join us along the route!
* Gather in staging area on Laurier Avenue between Elgin Street and Nicholas. The Parade will head North on Elgin Street to Wellington Street, West on Wellington Street to Kent Street, South on Kent Street and ending at Albert Street. The OPSEU Region 4 float is a large truck – look for OPSEU markings and colours. The Float will be located on Laurier Avenue close to Elgin. The Staging Area Code is A52 and the Colour Zone is Red.
Labour Day March – September 1
CUASA members are urged to join the Ottawa and District Labour Council (ODLC) for a Labour Day March and Picnic – Monday, September 1st, 2025.
The March will leave Ottawa City Hall (Elgin and Lisgar Street) at noon and March to MacNabb Park (Gladstone and Bonson Avenues) for a picnic from 1-4 pm.
This is a free, family friendly event with a barbecue, live music, face painting, a moon bounce and wading pool. The event will take place rain or shine.
The theme this year is: Workers Together: Unions Deliver.
If you would like to help or get involved in the organizing and/or running of the event call the ODLC at 613-233-7820 x1 or email [email protected].
Meet Your New Officers
Over the Summer, we will introduce the new members of CUASA’s Steering Committee, who began their mandate on July 1, 2025. In this update, we’d like to introduce Maya Papineau who will be serving as CUASA’s Chair of Internal Affairs.
Maya Papineau is an associate professor in the Department of Economics, she is a national authority on the economics of climate change, energy efficiency policy and sustainable development. Maya’s work is at the intersection of environmental and energy economics, causal inference and program evaluation. Her research aims to identify the most effective and welfare-enhancing approaches for Canada to meet its climate targets.
Maya has strong and long-standing links to the Carleton community going back to her days as an undergraduate student in Economics at Carleton. A proud Carleton alumna and Professor, Maya joins CUASA’s Executive as the Internal Affairs Chair with the goal of helping to steer the Association and its members through the challenging times currently faced by higher education institutions in Ontario and Canada. At CUASA this work includes collaboratively maintaining and improving internal governance structures, promoting allyship with other unions and affiliated groups on campus, and ensuring our organization meets its fiduciary obligations.
See Article V of the CUASA Constitution for more information on the role of the Steering Committee.
CAUT News
1. CAUT is soliciting nominations for the CAUT Lee Lorch Award.
The CAUT Lee Lorch Award recognizes academics whose work has meaningfully advanced the values of post-secondary education, strengthened academic labour rights, and fostered intellectual engagement among students, peers and the public.
Nominations for the Award may be submitted by individuals, member associations or others. The deadline for nominations is August 31, 2025.
The nomination form and procedures are available on the CAUT website. Nominations for the Lee Lorch Award can be made using this form.
2. Dalhousie Faculty Association facing imminent lockout.
August 19, 2025 – The Dalhousie University administration has issued an unprecedented lockout notice to nearly 1,000 faculty, librarians, counsellors and instructors. (Continue Reading)
3.CAUT condemns federal government’s violation of right to strike.
August 18, 2025 – The Canadian Association of Teachers condemns the federal government’s decision to mandate striking CUPE Air Canada flight attendants back to work and impose binding arbitration. (Continue Reading)
CUASA Summer Hours
August 1 – August 29
Monday – Thursday, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
Friday, 9:00 am – noon
Statutory Holidays – Office Closed
August 4 and September 1
*Please note that our staff work primarily remotely throughout the year – if you require an in person meeting please contact us at [email protected] to make arrangements.
