Laurentian Faculty Strike Pauses Campus, Testing Post-Insolvency Recovery

SUDBURY, Canada – January 19, 2026 – Picket lines formed in the early morning cold at Laurentian University today as faculty, academic librarians, and counsellors walked off the job, grinding academic life to a halt and casting a new shadow of uncertainty over an institution still healing from a historic financial collapse.

As of 12:01 a.m. Monday, approximately 450 members of the Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA) are on strike after mediated talks with the university’s Board of Governors reached an impasse Sunday afternoon. The strike, backed by a 98% mandate from a vote in November 2025, suspends all classes, labs, and academic activities, leaving thousands of students in limbo and raising critical questions about the nature of Laurentian's recovery.

Scars of Insolvency Fuel a New Crisis

This labour dispute is deeply rooted in the unprecedented turmoil of 2021, when Laurentian became the first publicly funded university in Canada to file for creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). The painful restructuring that followed saw the elimination of 69 programs and the termination of 195 faculty and staff positions, a process the Ontario Auditor General later criticized as having been strategically planned by the administration to bypass collective agreements.

LUFA insists its members made devastating concessions to ensure the university’s survival and are now being asked to accept less while the institution is back on solid financial footing. The union points to deep sacrifices, including job losses, the dismantling of their pension plan, wage rollbacks, and a dramatic increase in workloads for those who remained.

“We made enormous sacrifices to keep Laurentian alive,” said LUFA President, Fabrice Colin, in a statement. “Throughout the insolvency process, we did our part to save this institution. Our members endured job losses, the dismantling of our pension plan, wage rollbacks, and dramatically increased workloads. We did everything asked of us to help stabilize this university. Now that Laurentian is financially stable, it’s time for the Board of Governors to step up and do its part.”

Colin framed the union's demands not as a reach for extravagance but as a necessary step to mend the damage inflicted during the CCAA process. “We are asking for fair working conditions now – not luxuries,” he stated. “This is essential to student success. When faculty, librarians and professional staff are supported, students thrive.”

A Battle Over Financial Health

At the heart of the dispute are two conflicting narratives about the university's financial health. LUFA points to Laurentian's recent financial statements as proof of its stability. The university posted a surplus of $37.9 million in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, followed by a $55.2 million surplus for 2024-2025, buoyed by property sales, better-than-expected tuition revenues, and government grants.

However, the university administration paints a more cautious picture. While acknowledging it has exited CCAA in a “financially stable state,” it projects a much smaller surplus of just $1.7 million for the current 2025-2026 fiscal year. Officials cite the ongoing provincial tuition freeze and volatile external factors, including federal caps on international students, as reasons for continued prudence. In a statement, the university administration expressed disappointment with the strike, claiming it had tabled a “fair, reasonable, and sustainable” offer with salary increases “beyond what is normative in the sector.”

A central point of contention is the faculty pension plan. LUFA is demanding the ability to move its members to a jointly sponsored plan, like the University Pension Plan of Ontario, to secure it from direct university control. This move is currently blocked by restrictions in the CCAA Exit Loan Agreement with the Province of Ontario, which requires ministerial approval for such a change. This has led LUFA to file a Charter challenge against the province, accusing it of interfering with free collective bargaining.

Students Caught in the Crossfire Again

For Laurentian’s students, the strike is a painful case of déjà vu. Having already endured the anxiety and disruption of the CCAA process, which saw their programs and professors disappear overnight, they are once again facing an uncertain academic future. All classes and academic support from LUFA members are suspended indefinitely.

The university has confirmed that the campus will remain open and that services run by non-LUFA staff will continue. However, the core educational mission is on hold. The library remains open, but access to librarians is not. Counselling services provided by LUFA members are also unavailable. Students have been told they are not expected to work on courses during the strike, and that deadlines will be adjusted once it ends, but the potential for a prolonged dispute threatens to derail their entire semester.

Even getting to campus has become more complicated, with city transit routes being detoured to temporary stops off university property to avoid crossing picket lines. The administration has committed to ensuring students can complete their academic term, but the specifics remain contingent on the strike's duration, leaving students and their families to anxiously watch and wait.

Northern Ontario’s Anchor Adrift

The impact of the strike extends far beyond the campus grounds. As a key bilingual and tricultural institution, Laurentian University is a vital economic and cultural anchor for Sudbury and the broader Northern Ontario region. The instability of recent years has already taken a toll, and this new crisis raises further concerns about the university's ability to attract and retain talent—both students and faculty—for the long term.

“Laurentian is at the heart of Northern Ontario,” Colin emphasized in his statement. “Our members live here and work here and contribute hugely to the community.”

LUFA also places blame on the provincial government, which it accuses of having “frankly abandoned Northern Ontario.” This sentiment echoes findings from the Auditor General’s 2022 report, which highlighted weak provincial oversight as a contributing factor to the university’s initial financial crisis. The province’s ongoing role through the CCAA exit loan agreement, particularly the restrictions on the pension plan, remains a significant obstacle in negotiations.

The situation at Laurentian has already had national repercussions, prompting the federal government to propose amendments to insolvency laws to prevent public post-secondary institutions from using CCAA in the future. Yet for the community on the ground, the immediate challenge is resolving the current impasse.

With the provincially appointed mediator declaring the two sides “too far away” to reach an agreement, there is no clear path to a quick resolution. “Let’s be clear: the Laurentian Board of Governors can stop this strike,” Colin concluded. “We call on them to come back to the table prepared to bargain a fair deal. It is time to restore and improve working conditions damaged by the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) process, recognize the huge sacrifices faculty, librarians, and professional staff made, and bargain in good faith.”