student choice initiative
Ford Government Won’t Challenge Ontario Court of Appeal Decision on Student Choice Initiative, UWSA Breathes “Sigh of Relief”
The Ford government has announced that it would not challenge the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision on its controversial Student Choice Initiative (SCI). The SCI, introduced in 2019, allowed students to opt out of paying certain ancillary fees, notably those that funded various campus organizations. The decrease in funding that resulted from the opt-out forced organizations like student unions and radio stations to lay off staff and scale down services. After a successful court challenge initiated by the Canadian Federation of Students and the York Federation of Students in Spring 2019, the Ontario Divisional Court struck down the SCI in