Local student association pushing back against province’s controversial Bill 33
Posted Oct 25, 2025 07:42:56 AM.
Last Updated Oct 27, 2025 11:19:41 AM.
Local students are speaking up as the threat to student services remains under Ontario’s Bill 33.
That push, coming from the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA), says that the bill would take too much power away from those students and institutions, placing control and power into the hands of the provincial government.
The bill, titled The Supporting Children and Students Act, introduces reforms to the current Child, Youth, and Family Services Act.
The Ontario government said it would strengthen government oversight and accountability, further addressing “financial mismanagement by school boards.”
WUSA has stated that it believes the bill will threaten existing student services, restrict outside involvement in fee structuring for educational institutions, and cut down barriers that would prevent the government from instituting wider changes.
“We vote for these fee structures because they reflect what we collectively value: emergency food support, mental health programming, and equity-based resources,” Remington Zhi, Vice President of WUSA, said. “Bill 33 risks pulling the rug out from under those services and from students, without consulting us at all.”
As of now, WUSA represents over 30,000 student voices in the region.
The other major concern is in regards to the future of student-run publications, which currently rely on funding to maintain editorial independence and operations.
WUSA said it has been looking to raise attention by:
- Submitting formal feedback to the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security, and to local MPPs;
- Hosting a student roundtable with Marit Stiles (Leader of the Official Opposition), Catherine Fife (MPP for Waterloo), Peggy Sattler (NDP Shadow Minister for Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security), and representatives from Laurier, Conestoga, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA), and the College Students Association;
- Collecting signatures to support a petition from our local MPP Catherine Fife to stop Bill 33; and
- Working with the OUSA and other associations representing post-secondary students across the province to coordinate a unified response this fall if Bill 33 advances without meaningful revisions.
WUSA said optional fees that could be instituted under the new bill would force drastic cutbacks or possible closures to the University of Waterloo’s independent on-campus newspaper, Imprint.
“Student media is essential. It provides students with a voice to hold universities and student associations accountable,” Alicia Wang, senior editor of Imprint and a University of Waterloo undergraduate student, said. “Bill 33 rides roughshod over decisions students have already made on what they value and need on campus. It is vital student media is recognized as the essential service it is on campuses across Ontario.”
Response from Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security
In response to the action by WUSA, Bianca Giacoboni, Press Secretary for Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence, and Security, sent a statement to 570 NewsRadio.
She stated that no actions will be taken by the provincial government without communicating with students.
“As we have repeatedly stated, we will be consulting with the sector, including students, to understand these fees better, what current admissions policies look like, and their policies to ensure any changes would not disrupt the delivery of a world-class education,” Giacoboni said. “No regulations or changes will come until consultation has concluded, and we are not proposing that students should be able to opt out of all fees.”
Giacoboni said the bill allows students to have the ability to have better access to transparency when it comes to where their college and university fees are going.
The student association is now asking students and concerned members of the local community to raise their issues to the attention of their local politicians.
“We urge the broader Waterloo Region to stand with students in defending student democracy,” it said in a statement.
