Ontario’s 24 public colleges, including Centennial College, are preparing for the possibility of a labour disruption starting September 11, 2025. That’s when full-time support staff will be in a legal position to strike, following the August 31 expiry of the collective agreement that governs their relationship with the colleges that employ them.
While contract negotiations continue, we understand that the potential for a strike to occur may raise questions for students. That’s why we have created the following frequently asked questions, which have been adapted from the Student FAQ developed by the College Employer Council, the bargaining agent for Ontario’s public colleges.
We will continue to provide updates as they become available. For information about what’s happening at Centennial, please check your College email, the bargaining updates page on our website and our social media posts. You can also find general information about contract negotiations at Bargaining | College Employer Council - CEC and at Colleges – OPSEU SEFPO.
A strike may take different forms. In general, it is a refusal to work in the normal way that is designed to slow down, disrupt, or stop college operations.
A strike is organized by a union as a form of protest, typically in an attempt to force the colleges to agree to their demands. There are different forms of strikes: work-to-rule, partial walk-out, rotating strike, and full walk-out strike.
At the colleges, strikes are usually peaceful forms of protest. Picket lines may be formed by striking employees and there can be delays while entering campuses.
Full-time support staff work in positions or classifications such as student services, office, clerical, technical, health care, maintenance, building service, shipping, transportation, cafeteria, security, parking, academic technologist, and child-care staff. Support staff provide a wide range of student services that would be impacted in the event of a strike. Centennial College would continue to operate; however, we would potentially need to make some adjustments to our normal operations. These adjustments may include temporarily modifying certain services and transitioning some classes to an online format, and we would make every effort to minimize any impact on students.
Our bargaining agent, the College Employer Council, continues to bargain with the union representing full-time support staff in an effort to reach a renewal of the collective agreement.
We have also been preparing contingency plans in case there is a strike, so that we can minimize any impact on students, and will communicate regular updates.
Yes. Full-time and part-time professors and instructors, as well as part-time support staff, will all continue working. In the event of a strike, staff who support a wide range of student services and supports would be impacted, and some classes may move to an online format, but your academic year will continue as planned.
Full-time support staff at Ontario’s public colleges will be in a position to legally strike as early as September 11, 2025, and the full-time support staff’s union has provided the notice required to do so. However, it’s important to note that negotiations can and sometimes do continue right up until the very last minute. That means we may not know with certainty whether a work stoppage has been avoided or will go ahead until the morning it starts.