Provincial Representation

OUSA is a coalition of seven elected student organizations from across Ontario. They have come together to protect the interests of Ontario’s full-time and part-time undergraduate students by providing research and ideas to governments on how to improve quality and accessibility of post-secondary education in Ontario. These elected student representatives work together to set OUSA’s policies and direction. Currently, OUSA and its member schools represent over 140,000 Ontario university students.

The seven member student councils of OUSA are:

• Brock University Students’ Union 
• McMaster Students Union 
• Alma Mater Society at Queen’s University 
• University Students’ Council at UWO 
• University of Windsor Students’ Alliance 
• Waterloo Federation of Students 
• Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union

WLU undergraduate students pay their OUSA fee of $2.14 once per year. It is included as part of your Student Union fee.

OUSA has a long record of success in lobbying for changes that benefit students at Ontario's universities. Some notable accomplishments include:

• successfully lobbied for a two-year tuition freeze and associated funding for 2004/05 and 2005/06; 
• successfully lobbied for student representation on the review of higher education in Ontario (Leslie Church, former Executive Director of OUSA, sat on the Postsecondary Review Advisory Panel); 
• successfully lobbied for $20.9 million in changes to student financial aid in the 2004 provincial budget, including: 
  • reducing the parental contribution; 
  • updating the definition of "independent" student from five to four years; 
  • increasing debt forgiveness for loans near-default; and 
  • extending OSAP to accepted refugees. 
• Fifteen of the 28 recommendations from the final report of the Postsecondary Review reflect OUSA's priorities as outlined in our submission; 
• successfully lobbied for a tuition cap in 2000 (at two per cent per year for inflation); 
• established a coalition of university stakeholders, with the aim of raising public awareness of post-secondary issues; 
• lobbied to create the Ontario Advisory Committee on Student Financial Aid (OACSFA); 
• created the framework for legislation that limited ancillary fee increases and rested decision making in the hands of students; 
• persuaded the government to increase the allowable earnings threshold for students to $1,100; 
• worked with the Alma Mater Society at Queen's University to defeat deregulation at that institution; and ensured student involvement in the development of the Quality Assurance Fund.

If you are interested in finding out more information about OUSA please visit its website at http://www.ousa.on.ca  or contact your Vice-President: University Affairs at 884-0710 ext. 3434 or suvpua@wlu.ca