It’s time for OCAD University’s budgetary priorities to match its mission statement.  We need a budget that prioritizes community over capital. The OCAD U 2020/21 Alternative Budget, produced by OCADFA speaks to the need to reinvest in OCAD U and offers concrete mechanisms to do so. 

Our Alternative Budget proposes viable changes to the operating budget that re-centres the student learning experience while also contributing to the long-term financial and community health of OCAD University.

Budgets reflect priorities. In recent years OCAD U has adopted an austerity agenda that’s compromised the student learning experience, our academic integrity and working conditions for faculty and staff. OCAD University’s Academic Plan champions the humanist and social dimensions of higher education, but its Operating Budget reflects a cut-throat market logic. 

In the midst of a state of crisis, OCAD U’s 2020/21 Operating Budget has:

  • allotted over $2 million in a contingency fund
  • has tucked millions aside for ‘capital assets’
  • imposed a 13% cut in academic compensation
  • fails to put resources aside to support students 
  • invests in money losing private ventures like OCAD U Co. 

OCAD U’s current operating budget strays far from our public university’s civic mission: To build public knowledge for social good.  You can read our primer on the Administration’s budget here.

Instead of emulating the corporate model, OCAD University can adopt a participatory budget model that is inclusive, accessible and foregrounds the student learning experience. OCADFA has drafted an alternative budget that re-invests in OCAD University’s core mission:  Transformative education through art & design.


We need a budget that prioritizes community over capital. The OCAD U 2020/21 Alternative Budget speaks to the need to reinvest in OCAD U and offers concrete mechanisms to do so.  It proposes viable changes to the operating budget that re-centre the student learning experience while also contributing to the long-term financial and community health of OCAD University. 


The Alternative Budget is supported by OCAD United, a cross-campus coalition of students, faculty and staff at OCAD University, and is endorsed by OCAD’s Faculty Association and the OCAD Student Union. OCAD United has a public letter campaign to build support for our Alternative Budget.  The public letter will be presented to the Board of Governors (BoG) on Dec 7th (4:30 – 7:30) , 2020.  Take Action Now and sign this public letter.

We also encourage you to come to the Board of Governors meeting. These are public meetings and it’s important for the BoG to hear directly from our community.  To secure a zoom link to the BoG meeting on Dec 7th please email Christine Huang (chuang@ocadu.ca).