Labour and education in the news

Below are recent news stories on labour and education related issues. Click the headline to be taken to the article. Some may require a subscription. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for article text.

October 30, 2026

School board elections marked by surprising upsets
Winnipeg Free Press
Sitting school trustees ended up on the winning or losing side of more than a half-dozen unexpected victories in Winnipeg’s latest elections.

Quebec plans to ban religious symbols in schools, Education Minister says
Globe and Mail
The president of the National Council of Canadian Muslims is accusing the Quebec government of attempting to take away the rights of children by expanding secularism laws.

Ontario received hundreds of tips, complaints about private career colleges before OSAP ban, documents show
Globe and Mail
The Ontario government received more than 220 tips and complaints over 2½ years about three private career colleges, some of which alleged that recruiters were filling out financial aid applications and completing online coursework on students’ behalf and using the province’s student aid program as a marketing tool, according to documents filed in court.

N.S. university teachers' association says premier is using political intimidation
CBC
An association representing university teachers in Nova Scotia is accusing Premier Tim Houston of political intimidation after his office complained to a Toronto professor who had commented on a proposed artificial intelligence data centre.

CUPE says N.S. school support workers will file strike notice
CTV News
School support workers across Nova Scotia will file a 48-hour strike notice on Friday.

Her 6-year-old brought home an AI-generated photo from school. This mom isn’t having it
Yahoo
When Nikki Anderson, 32, opened up her 6-year-old's Friday folder on Oct. 16, she was excited to see what her daughter, Harper, had been working on at school that week.

Province 'heading in the right direction' on physician shortages, but gaps remain: Doctors Manitoba
CBC
Manitoba is moving in the right direction on fighting the shortage of doctors in the province, Doctors Manitoba says, but the advocacy organization warns more needs to be done to recruit more specialists and physicians in rural areas.

Labour unions set up 'war room' to fight Carney's Bill C-39
Yahoo
Canada's labour union leaders announced on Thursday they will set up a "war room" to coordinate their response to the federal government's latest major projects bill, which they argue undermines workers' constitutional right to strike.

Steelworkers to Stelco owner: “Damn right we’re colluding with Ottawa”
USW
The American CEO of the company that owns the Stelco steel mills laying off Canadian workers accused the United Steelworkers union (USW) of “colluding” with the federal government.

Hydro-Québec claims rejected twice in one week by the Administrative Labour Tribunal
CUPE
The Syndicat des employé-e-s de métiers d’Hydro-Québec (CUPE 1500) has won a second victory before the Administrative Labour Tribunal (TAT), in less than one week. The Tribunal welcomed a request for redress from the union and ordered Hydro-Québec to provide release time for workers assigned to work recalls and dispatching, in order to maintain essential services during the strike.

Government Union Urges Conservatives to Cut Managers, Not Frontline Workers
The Tyee
The union for government employees is calling on the new Conservative Party of BC to rein in public sector management while protecting frontline workers.

New changes to immigration policy harmful to young workers
Rabble
In October of this year the federal government announced measures that will make it easier for employers to seek out foreign workers. According to Immigration Minister Lena Diab, this change will reduce red tape to ensure the country can find people to “fill gaps that we cannot fill.”

Long Covid Disabled Millions of Workers. Then Came Trump 2.0.
Mother Jones
Covid constitutes the largest mass disabling event in the United States since the Americans with Disabilities Act became law in 1990. It’s hard to measure the scale: Millions of Americans, maybe tens of millions, live with Long Covid. Many, from farmworkers to white-collar executives, are still in the workforce—some by choice, some paying an unsustainable price to support themselves or their families.

Major strikes planned across Italy on Friday against cost of living and military spending
euronews
Strikes and rallies are planned over rising living cost and the shift of public funds to arms. Unions are demanding wage increases in line with inflation; while dockworkers in 17 countries are mobilising against the war.

Italy tightens security as students, unions launch nationwide protests
Al Jazeera
Italy has tightened security as tens of thousands of students and unions took to the streets across the country.

October 29, 2026

Adult education should be the foundation of the North
Winnipeg Free Press
Major economic developments are, we are being told, coming to northern Manitoba, focusing on the port of Churchill and the railway system that leads to it, and the production and export via that port of various commodities. Many challenges, particularly environmental, lie along that path, and they deserve particularly serious consideration if any development is to proceed.

Full-time teaching staff at Canadian universities, 2025/2026
Statistics Canada
Today, Statistics Canada is releasing the results from the Full-time University and College Academic Staff System for the 2025/2026 academic year. This release includes data from public degree-granting institutions. The release provides a detailed portrait of full-time academic staff in Canadian universities, including gender, age, academic rank, salary and administrative stipends, administrative responsibilities, and principal subject taught.

Study: How are young Canadian university graduates faring in the recent labour market?
Statistics Canada
In 2025, close to 7 in 10 young adults aged 25 to 34 years with a bachelor's degree or higher (69%) were employed in permanent, full-time positions. This was down from a peak of 71% recorded in 2022, during the late stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when labour market conditions were especially tight. Despite this decrease, the proportion recorded in 2025 was above the pre-pandemic average of 65% seen from 2017 to 2019. In 2025, the share of young adults with a bachelor's degree or higher employed in permanent, full-time positions was slightly below the share observed for those with a trades certificate or diploma (71%) but was higher than the share observed for those with a high school diploma (56%) and those with less than a high school diploma (43%).

U of O has 12 days to meet teaching professors’ demands and avert potential strike
The Fulcrum
Teaching professors could go on strike as soon as Nov. 9, following an impasse in collective agreement negotiations between the Association of Teaching Professors of the University of Ottawa (ATPUO) and the U of O administration. The conciliator submitted a no-board application to the Ministry of Labour on Oct. 21, triggering the mandatory 17-day waiting period before it can enter a legal strike position.

Calgary university denied appeal bid as controversial academic eyes reinstatement
CBC
A judge has denied a bid from Calgary’s Mount Royal University to appeal a recent decision tied to the termination and potential reinstatement of a former tenured professor.

Harvard Academic Workers Set Nov. 10 Strike Deadline
Harvard Crimson
Harvard’s non-tenure-track teachers and researchers will walk out of classrooms and labs on Nov. 1o if their union does not reach a contract agreement with the University.

'Funeral march' staged over planned university cuts
BBC
The union representing staff at the University of Nottingham held a funeral march as part of a day of industrial action against planned compulsory redundancies.

Serbia’s students achieved the impossible. Europe must not fail them now
The Guardian
As polling stations closed across Serbia on Sunday evening, riot police were deploying around the presidency in Belgrade. Many of us feared the worst: massive electoral fraud, a refusal to recognise defeat or outright violence. After nearly 15 years of Aleksandar Vučić’s increasingly authoritarian rule, a peaceful transfer of power seemed implausible.

Winnipeggers frustrated with Dynacare wait times as contract negotiations stall
CBC
Some Winnipeggers say they're frustrated over long wait times for medical lab results in Winnipeg, as negotiations between Dynacare and the union representing its workers are stalled.

Hundreds of unionized health-care workers rally outside Sask. legislature over contracts
CBC
Hundreds of unionized health-care workers rallied outside the Saskatchewan legislature on Wednesday, calling on the government to agree to a deal.

MEDIA ADVISORY: Canada’s largest unions unite in Ottawa to challenge Carney government over right to strike
Canadian Labour Congress
CLC President Bea Bruske will join David Chartrand, Canadian General Vice President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and Marty Warren, United Steelworkers National Director for Canada, at a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday, October 29, to address the growing fight over workers’ right to strike.

Canada Revenue Agency to cut more than 200 positions in new round of workforce adjustment
CTV News
Up to 260 employees are expected to be laid off from the Canada Revenue Agency in the coming months in the latest round of job cuts at the federal agency.

Personal data of 40,000 U.S. Homeland Security employees leaked in security breach
CBC
The leak website Distributed Denial of Secrets said on ‌Wednesday it has released data on more than 40,000 U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees, including details about officials working in sensitive fields such as surveillance and human intelligence.

The First-Ever California State Workers’ Strike
Labor Notes
State workers went on a one-day unfair labor practice strike across California October 21, with picket lines in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other cities. They're demanding better pay, affordable health care coverage, and flexibility to work from home.

October 28, 2026

Winnipeg students rally for the right to vote in school trustee elections
CityNews
Dozens of Winnipeg students are preparing to rally on election day, calling for the right to vote for school trustees who make decisions that directly affect their education.

Trustee rivals join forces on campaign trail
Winnipeg Free Press
Trustee candidates have begun teaming up — in some cases, with rivals — to reduce the cost of canvassing, meet more voters and bolster their platforms to improve public education in Winnipeg.

Sask. teachers, gov’t in preliminary bargaining stages for new contract
CTV News
As educators gathered at the Queensbury Convention Centre for their annual convention Monday, it was done under the backdrop of yet another round of contract negotiations.

Indigenous scholars allege racism, poor treatment at University of Ottawa
CBC
Indigenous academics say a difficult work environment, poor treatment and racism at the University of Ottawa, and a lack of effort to address those problems, has led multiple promising Indigenous scholars to quit.

10 students suspended at Lévis, Que., high school for posting AI-altered images of staff
CBC
Ten students have been suspended at a high school in Lévis, Que., after images of teachers and school staff altered by artificial intelligence were published on social media.

CUPE says school support staff will issue strike notice Friday if wage demands not met
CBC
The union representing school support workers across Nova Scotia says it will issue a 48-hour strike notice on Friday if the employer does not offer a deal that would boost wages by at least $3.50 an hour over four years.

Alberta teachers mark one year since historic strike, say classroom pressures persist
CityNews
One year after the Alberta government ordered teachers back to work following a historic strike, the Alberta Teachers’ Association is giving the province a failing grade, saying overcrowded classrooms and growing workloads continue to put pressure on educators.

Memorial University cuts continue – without collegial governance, and without transparency
The Independent
Memorial University is being changed significantly by the current administration and board of regents. As someone who began studying at MUNL in 1989, and who teaches there now, I can confidently say the nature and character of our province’s university is being changed before our very eyes. The past year has without a doubt seen a drastic shift.

Budget pressures put satellite campuses under threat
University Affairs
About 300 kilometres northwest of its main campus in Kamloops, B.C., Thompson Rivers University (TRU) operates a satellite location in the small city of Williams Lake. The school’s president says the site loses $14,000 every single day.

At the root of anxiety over Ontario student aid
Globe and Mail
On a recent afternoon at the Southern Ontario Dental College, worries about paying the bills were as common as the mouth mirrors and polishing wands the future hygienists used to clean their clients’ teeth.

Cornell faculty to vote on no-confidence resolution over school’s handling of sexual-assault allegations
Globe and Mail
Cornell University faculty will meet Wednesday to conclude debate and begin voting on a proposed no-confidence resolution in the university’s administration following widespread frustration over its response to a woman who reported she was gang raped at a campus fraternity house in 2024.

France promises new university admissions system in response to students’ demands
Globe and Mail
France’s government pledged Monday to replace its national online university admissions platform, seeking to quell student anger after weeks of often violent mass protests over education and living costs.

Alberta tables bill to prevent DEI hiring in public sector
Globe and Mail
Alberta is looking to end public sector hiring practices aimed at diversity, equity and inclusion.

Ontario pauses some skills training funding for unemployed people
Globe and Mail
In addition to freezing Ontario Student Assistance Program payments to all private postsecondary institutions, the province has paused at least some funding through Better Jobs Ontario, which helps unemployed people get skills training.

46% of Canadian CEOs eyeing AI-driven growth with smaller staff, poll shows
CBC
Nearly half of Canadian CEOs who participated in a recent survey believe artificial intelligence will allow their companies to meet their growth goals with fewer workers on the payroll.

Yukon government, unionized employees reach tentative agreement
CBC
The government of Yukon and its unionized employees have reached a tentative agreement.

More than half of N.L.'s Parks Canada workers at risk of losing their jobs
CBC
More than half of Parks Canada employees in Newfoundland and Labrador are potentially at risk of losing their jobs as the federal government agency launches a workforce adjustment exercise due to budget cuts.

PSAC holds strike training for members across the country
PSAC
Strike training for 120,000 PSAC members in the PA, TC, and EB groups has kicked off.

Typical big bank CEO takes just 2 days to make what the average worker takes a year to make – TUC
TUC
The TUC has today (Tuesday) renewed its call to tax bank windfall profits to cut energy bills ahead of the Budget, as the union body publishes new analysis which reveals the scale of massive pay packets of top bosses at Britain's big four banks.

October 27, 2026

School division’s mental-health liaison helps students in crisis access help faster
Winnipeg Free Press
A youth experiencing a mental-health crisis at a River East Transcona school was connected with specialized care within hours this fall, offering an early example of how a new partnership is helping students in distress.

Delays, cancellations after 45 Winnipeg School Division buses vandalized
CBC
The Winnipeg School Division had a lot of cleaning up to do Monday, after vandals targeted a school and nearly four dozen school buses in two separate incidents Sunday night.

Pushed to pursue safe degrees, students are shunning the humanities. At what cost?
Globe and Mail
Recent university graduates are still struggling in Canada’s unforgiving job market, with post-pandemic unemployment rates among young bachelor’s degree holders sitting at levels not seen since the early 1990s.

How age-friendly universities are helping older adults pursue higher learning
Globe and Mail
Gerry Eggert is a student at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) in B.C., taking classes in philosophy, psychology, creative writing and more. He’s a typical student, except for one detail: Eggert is 84 years old.

A look at Ontario’s current negotiations with its education unions
Globe and Mail
The Ontario government is hoping to reach deals with five major education unions, all of which have been without a contract since the end of August.

Ontario’s delayed inspections of two career colleges was after funding approval, records show
Globe and Mail
Ontario delayed inspections of two career colleges that ultimately turned up serious concerns about student financial aid use, which meant the schools received a “fail” only after they had been approved for funding for another year, court records show.

Working‑class academics are still struggling to fit in at university
The Conversation
Higher education is not a neutral space. It is built on longstanding histories of classism, elitism and exclusion. Universities in the UK were not designed for the working class, just as they were not designed for many other under-represented and marginalised groups, such as women, people of the global ethnic majority and people with disabilities.

The reported sexual assault at University of Arizona is the latest instance of alleged misconduct at the university’s frats
CNN
The woman thought she had told the two men, “Please stop.” She thought she had shaken her head.

Harvard Graduate Student Union to Strike for Second Time This Year as Contract Talks Stall
The Harvard Crimson
Harvard’s graduate students will walk off the job Tuesday for the second time this year after the union and the University failed to reach a contract agreement before an 11:59 pm Monday deadline, a union spokesperson confirmed.

Silicon Valley parents want the tech they help build out of their children’s schools
The Guardian
German Gil spends most of his waking hours looking at screens. Since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2015, the software engineer has bounced between start-ups and giants including Netflix, Facebook and GitHub.

Canadian Union pensions love privatization, just not at home
Winnipeg Sun
Canada’s public sector unions have a simple message about our airports: keep them public. Privatization, they warn, means higher fees, worse service and profits flowing to distant investors.

Can Unions Turn Worker Anger Into Real Power?
The Maple
After decades of declining union density, employer attacks and growing economic inequality, the labour movement faces both significant challenges and renewed opportunities. A new generation of workers is organizing in workplaces once considered difficult to unionize, while growing public support for unions suggests that working people increasingly recognize the need to confront corporate power collectively.

More than 1,200 workers walk off job at B.C. copper mine after contract talks fail
CBC
Operations at Canada's largest open-pit copper mine have been reduced after more than 1,200 unionized workers walked off the job Saturday following failed contract talks.

Microsoft gives voluntary buyout offer to about 60,000 employees
CBC
Microsoft said on Monday it is offering voluntary buyouts to many staff members as the technology giant looks to contain costs and help fund its ‌massive AI investments.

Red Lobster workers want $22.30 minimum wage
Alberta Worker
Earlier this month, Local 401 of the United Food and Commercial Workers published an update on their website regarding contract negotiations for workers Red Lobster workers in Edmonton.

Protest leaders urge French pupils to keep barricading their schools
The Guardian
French children should continue to barricade their schools and take part in street protests, a student union said on Monday after the government announced a package of education measures to try to stem the crisis.

Serbia’s Student List preparing for talks on forming government despite no clear leader
The Guardian
Serbia’s triumphant but untested Student List movement is preparing to start talks on forming a government capable of reversing 14 years of increasingly authoritarian nationalist rule, after a seismic weekend election win.

October 26, 2026

Manitoba Government Bans One-To-One Communication Between School Staff and Students on Unmonitored Platforms
Province of Manitoba
The Manitoba government is issuing a directive to all publicly funded schools and school divisions to revise policies and practices around digital communications, banning one-to-one online communications between school employees and students on unmonitored platforms to protect students, Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Tracy Schmidt announced today.

Manitoba bans teachers from texting, messaging students over social media
CBC
The Manitoba government is banning teachers from sending social media messages or texting students privately, weeks after two educators were stripped of their licences for inappropriately communicating with students.

Apathy after the outrage
Winnipeg Free Press
Front lawns were littered with “Local Voices, Local Choices” signs five years ago, protesting the imminent extinction of elected school boards.

Is the student or the system falling short?
Winnipeg Free Press
One night at bedtime, a 10-year-old looked at her mother with tears in her eyes and said, “Mom, I think I’m stupid.”

Assiniboine to launch Bachelor of Nursing for LPNs in January
Assiniboine College
Assiniboine College is launching a Post-LPN Bachelor of Nursing program in January 2027, thanks to an investment from the Province of Manitoba, announced in the provincial budget this spring.

The PQ sees a dire threat: schoolchildren
Globe and Mail
The Parti Québécois believes it has found a new threat to the secular nature of Quebec’s institutions: schoolchildren.

Government of Canada announces major investment in Canadian researchers and research institutions
Government of Canada
Today, Karim Bardeesy, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry, announced on behalf of the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, more than $813 million to support world-class research. Specifically, funding will support over 450 researchers across Canada, cutting edge research infrastructure and help Canadian institutions with the indirect costs of research.

Teachers, education workers rally in Toronto calling for more funding for education
CBC
Teachers, education workers, their supporters and students rallied in five cities across Ontario Saturday, calling for increased funding for public education in the province.

Former SFU manager given conditional sentence after stealing over $180K
CBC
A former manager at Simon Fraser University (SFU) has been given a conditional sentence of two years less a day, to be served in the community, after pleading guilty to theft.

Memorial negotiating new CBAs with campus unions
The Muse
Five unions on campus – MUNFA, TAUMUN, CUPE, NAPE, and LUMUN are currently in the process of negotiating new collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) with Memorial.

Threats to a strong Canada? Universities are also a national emergency
The Conversation
The federal government is set to deliver its fall budget with a promised focus on building a strong Canada while positioning the country for long-term prosperity.

SGEU, province reach tentative agreement for 2,040 Sask. health workers
PA Now
Health-care workers in Saskatchewan could soon have a new collective agreement.

Ottawa ‘disappointed’ after union announces strike votes for 120,000 workers
CityNews
The federal government says it’s “disappointed” after Canada’s largest federal public service union announced 120,000 workers will take part in nationwide strike votes starting next month.

Amazon used AI tool to track risk of unionization in Canadian warehouses, documents show
Globe and Mail
Amazon.com Inc. AMZN-Q used an artificial-intelligence tool in Canadian warehouses to assess the likelihood of workers unionizing, assigning a “labour risk” score to each of its facilities.

Bill C-39 won’t “modernize” labour relations in Canada
CCPA
The federal government’s modifications to the Canada Labour Code through Bill C-39 have been generating a lot of questions. Why, first of all, are federal policymakers claiming that this obvious attack on the right to strike is not what it looks like? In what way will these measures “modernize” labour relations in Canada?

Nurse Strikes Have Quadrupled Since 2017. Here's Why It Keeps Growing
Nurse.org
If it feels like nurses are walking out more often than they used to, you are not imagining it. The numbers prove it, and the pace is picking up.

Volkswagen Confirms 12,000 Additional Job Cuts as Union Sets January Strike Deadline
Ad Hoc News
Volkswagen faces a widening labor confrontation after confirming on Friday that it will shed an additional 12,000 positions at Volkswagen AG through 2030 — a figure the company says emerges from its corporate target framework. Talks with IG Metall are now scheduled, but the union has already attached a strike threat to the negotiations.