‘Tired of being a pawn’: Conestoga students petition for partial tuition refund
Posted Oct 16, 2025 09:45:44 AM.
Last Updated Oct 17, 2025 09:50:54 AM.
After the over-month-long strike involving Ontario college support staff workers, students at Conestoga College are now petitioning to receive a partial tuition refund due to the disruptions it caused.
The strike began back on Sept. 11, when those support staff workers pushed for better job security and increased pay, taking to the picket lines for over a month. The strike ended on Oct. 15 when the two sides came to a tentative agreement.
During that time, the students say they were dealt significant academic disruptions as a result, affecting “essential campus operations, limited access to academic resources, and disrupting the quality and continuity of our education.”
That’s according to a new online petition that’s been kick-started by students, saying that, despite paying full tuition, the strike caused sizable impacts to their education that now won’t be able to be properly made up by the college.
“I am tired of being a pawn; my education is non-negotiable,” said Ren, a student who signed the online petition. “I am paying to learn so I can better my life- how can I be expected to do this when the amenities and support I pay for are no longer accessible?”
Those disruptions stem from in-person classes to bus routes, campus parking, and other accessibility options usually offered by the college.
The online petition, which has since garnered over 1,400 signatures, has now spread to include students from other colleges impacted by the same strike, including Humber Polytechnic, Georgian College, Fanshawe College, and others.
“My daughter is in the CICE program for adults with intellectual disabilities. Her program is only running half the course; they are all online now, and she does not get to do her labs or placement,” said Kris, a mother from Cambridge who signed the petition. “They have 1 person to support the entire class online. This is not the program she signed up for. It is like COVID all over again. We would never have had her do this program and pay full tuition for half the experience.”
In a statement, the college responded and acknowledged the petition, but specified that decisions made in regards to partial tuition refunds due to similar strikes are not the responsibility of those individual institutions, but rather of the Ontario government.
It wouldn’t be the first time a similar situation has happened where the Ontario government to action to make up for lost classes and disruptions.
Back in 2017, 10,000 faculty members went on strike, impacting campuses at 24 different colleges across the province, forcing them to shut down. The strike lasted for five weeks and, when it came to a close, the provincial government created a student support fund.
It had those colleges’ direct funds from some faculty salaries, but required students to demonstrate how they were impacted before they would receive up to $500 being offered back.
While the recent strike action didn’t result in longer-term closures of those campuses, the students signing the petition are still saying they deserve to have a portion of their tuition refunded.
“I’m honestly exhausted from having to take the bus an hour early every day because of the strike. It’s been such a hassle just to get to class on time,” said Devanshi, who commented on the online petition. “We’re losing valuable time and access to services we’ve already paid for. We deserve a partial tuition refund for all this inconvenience.”
The full list of comments and issues being presented by those impacted students can be found on the Change.org petition page.
