Tentative Agreement Reached Between GSA and University of Calgary

Only 2025 Academically Employed Graduate Students (AEGS) may vote — Ratification Vote on March 24–25, 2025

The Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) and your bargaining team are pleased to announce that a tentative collective agreement has been reached between the University of Calgary and the GSA, pending ratification by a vote of the membership.

If ratified, Academically Employed Graduate Students (AEGS) will receive multiple added benefits, including monetary increases, additional protections, and enhanced benefits.

As many know, AEGS have been without a collective agreement for over two years. During this period, the GSA has remained committed to fulfilling its legislatively required mandate of acting as the bargaining agent for academically employed graduate students at the university.

If passed, this agreement will provide four years of certainty while reducing the risk of potential recessions and budget cuts impacting graduate students.

Benefits highlights include:

• A lump sum payment of $400 for all current graduate students employed from September 2023 to December 2024. This is an increase of $100 from the original offer and exceeds the retroactive pay for any singular GAT contract below a 1.0 period.
• Pay increases over the next four years:
  • 4.75% in Year 1
  • 2% in Year 2
  • 2% in Year 3
  • 2% in Year 4
• Protection of the newly created Marker Grader position by establishing an Hourly GAT (HGAT). HGAT pay will match the GAT rate of $45.67 per hour and will also be subject to the above raises.
• Modernized parental benefits and new provisions for academic conference leave, domestic violence leave, and more.
• Time-and-a-half pay for Graduate Assistants required to work on holidays.

Click here to read the full Tentative Agreement Package

Click here for the Agreement Overview Presentation

If the agreement is not passed, bargaining will resume, and employees will remain under the current agreement. Additionally, students who graduate within the next year may be ineligible for any monetary compensation.

Voting will be conducted on the Simply Voting platform. You will receive an email when voting opens. Only academically employed graduate students who are actively enrolled 2025 and employed on the dates of the ratification vote are eligible to vote and may cast a ballot.

For further questions email labour.gsa@ucalgary.ca