From May 4-8, 2026, the SUO President, Olivia Lai and the VP External, Naden Qually, with coalition partners JISU and SFSS, had the opportunity to meet with Government (Liberal) and official opposition (Conservative) Members of Parliament during the SUO’s first foray into federal advocacy in recent history to forward group concerns and asks as a united front. The rest of the article is a concise summary of the VP External’s report.
OVERVIEW OF OUR ADVOCACY:
- More stability and transparency in IRCC
- Long term Canada Student Grant stability
- More investments in public transportation infrastructure
- Increase Federal Transfers to Post-Secondary Education
Click HERE to read the 2026 Lobby Brief.
- More stability and transparency
in IRCC:
IRCC cuts have caused instability in the province across all institutions leading to more deficits by institutions with cuts to services and classes students need to graduate on time…. We noted that it is unfortunate that international students fund a majority of the BC Post-Secondary system and we are disappointed that we saw the BC Government allow international students to become the foundations of institutional budgets.
2. More investments in public transportation infrastructure:
We thanked the Liberal MP’s for their governments one year extension on the Canada Student Grant for another year. However, we stressed that a long term stable plan is needed. Students rely on the grant to afford post-secondary and the program can not be simply allowed to end.
Click HERE to read the 2026 Lobby Brief.
3. More investments in public transportation infrastructure:
We encouraged Liberal and Conservative MP’s to consider public transportation as an essential investment in public infrastructure projects, as it improves commuter times, lowers emissions, and improves safe commutes for students who work late or live far from campus.
4. Increase Federal Transfers to Post-Secondary Education:
PSE is in the jurisdiction of the provinces however the federal government does invest in education through research grants and projects. We encouraged federal MP’s from both the opposition and government to start a broader conversation on post-secondary education in Canada and the long-term stability of the system.
Click HERE to read the 2026 Lobby Brief.
Overall,
we met with MP’s Beech, Dhaliwal, Saini, Arnold, Dalton, Kibbel, Konanz, and briefly talked to MP’s Church, Bardeesy, and Sawatsky.
We thank all the MP’s we met in-person for taking the time to converse with us!
