More than 16,000 college faculty join OPSEU after 2017 ballot unsealed, counted

More than 16,000 part-time and sessional faculty from Ontario’s 24 public colleges have officially joined the Ontario Public Sectors Employees’ Union (OPSEU). On Friday, OPSEU published the results of a 2017 workers’ vote, which—due to a series of legal challenges—had not been tallied until recently. After the legal challenges were resolved, the Ontario Labour Relations Board informed OPSEU in August 2024 that the contested ballot boxes could be unsealed and counted. OPSEU has since tallied the votes and announced that 88% of voters were in favour of unionizing. “This is historic—after today, Ontario’s college system becomes wall-to-wall union,” said OPSEU President JP Hornick.