Supporting CEGEPs During Election Campaigns and Beyond

MONTRÉAL, Aug. 11, 2026 – As we enter into a back-to-school season marked by a pre-election context and a significant increase in the number of students, the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), the Fédération de l’enseignement collégial (FEC-CSQ), the Fédération du personnel de soutien de l’enseignement supérieur (FPSES-CSQ), and the Fédération du personnel professionnel des collèges (FPPC-CSQ) are urging politicians to recognize and support the CEGEP network and its staff.

At a press conference at the Maison du développement durable, Éric Gingras, president of the CSQ, Youri Blanchet, president of the FEC-CSQ, Frédérique-Jade Belzile, president of the FPSES-CSQ, and Éric Cyr, president of the FPPC-CSQ, said that the usual enthusiasm of the back-to-school season has been dampened by the decisions made in recent years, including job cuts, budget cuts, and hiring freezes. “It’s time to finally offer some predictability to stakeholders in the CEGEP network. That’s true for funding, which regularly goes up and down, with no consideration of the impacts on the ground. But it’s also true for the teams, who ended the school year completely exhausted because some colleagues were not replaced,” said the union leaders.

More students with less space

The labour organizations said that CEGEPs must cope with a steady increase in their student population. According to the latest departmental forecasts, the number of full-time students in regular programs is expected to rise by 4% this fall. It increased by 5% last year and by 5.3% the year before. However, while the needs are growing, services, facilities, and human resources remain insufficient.

In the run-up to the elections, it is time to put an end to improvisation, says the president of the CSQ. “The CEGEP network needs budgetary predictability. We cannot keep asking CEGEPs to play it by ear and absorb the growing costs of aging buildings, pressure on services, exhausted staff, and rising enrollment. If education is truly a priority, it must reflect coherent, long-term choices. In fact, supporting the CEGEP network also requires a strategic vision. By providing technical training, pre-university and continuing education, CEGEPs are an essential link to prepare the Quebec of tomorrow. It makes no sense to talk about workforce development without first maintaining and strengthening the network,” he said.

Meeting the new realities of CEGEP teaching by promoting discussion

Speaking on behalf of the teaching staff, the president of the FEC-CSQ, Youri Blanchet, said that unstructured measures, like evening schedules, are the result of inadequate planning and funding. “By adding more classes in the evening to address the lack of space or resources, we are also stretching the students too much. Often, their days might start very early and end very late. And if the services to which they are entitled don’t keep pace, we end up jeopardizing their success and perseverance,” said Youri Blanchet.

Mr. Blanchet said that the CEGEP network is currently experiencing a significant period of transformation, because of the increasing popularity of AI: “CEGEP teaching is going through major changes, and we can’t handle significant transformations like this by walking on a tightrope every year. We must stabilize what can be stabilized, ensure real discussions, and continue to develop the critical thinking skills of our students. Implementing decent teaching conditions is essential for educational success,” he said.

Reconnecting with sustainable solutions

The president of the FPSES-CSQ, Frédérique-Jade Belzile, argues that the impacts of the hiring freeze can no longer be ignored. “Things are hanging by a thread at the moment. Employees are utterly exhausted, yet they are constantly expected to do more and more with less. We urgently need to move away from this approach, which is wearing people down and undermining services,” she said.

Although the situation is improving in some places, Ms. Belzile notes that job cuts are still occurring in the vast majority of colleges affiliated with the federation. At Dawson College, for example, 12 permanent full-time positions have been eliminated in administration, IT, and even in electrical and plumbing departments. She adds: “Given the condition of infrastructure in our CEGEPs, it’s deeply concerning that jobs in the skilled trades are being cut, thereby paving the way for subcontracting, which costs colleges more. At the administrative level, our members deplore the fact that colleges are once again cutting support staff and administrative technician posts. The workload does not disappear, it’s simply transferred to the remaining staff, leaving them increasingly overburdened.”

A comprehensive overview of services for the student population

For Éric Cyr, president of the FPPC-CSQ, the combination of recent decisions, such as the hiring freeze, budget cuts, and resource caps, as well as the significant rise in student enrollment, is having very tangible impacts on CEGEPs: “In some settings, the pressure on students is increasing at least as much as on staff, while professional services are struggling to keep pace with the growth in student numbers. By stretching the available support too thinly without additional hiring, we run the risk of seeing a real erosion of services,” he said.

Éric Cyr emphasized that welcoming a growing number of students every year entails expanding professional, psychosocial, and specialized support services. “Otherwise, we’re creating more challenging study conditions, without providing the necessary support. The network still has the capacity to welcome more young people, but we must stop relying on staff sacrifices to keep the system running,” he said.

A key moment for the future of CEGEPs 

As the election campaign approaches, the leaders of the four labour organizations assert that the CEGEP network deserves better than short-sighted management. They are calling on the next government to provide predictable and sufficient funding, finally address the aging infrastructure, and promote study and working conditions that favour success.

“At the CSQ, we also believe that Quebec is ready for a major overhaul of its education system and that the college sector must be included. It’s still possible to enable the CEGEP network to play its full role in ensuring access to higher education in all regions of Quebec, but we must act now,” they said.