UCGSA’s Joint Provincial Budget Submission: Strengthening Support for Graduate Students

UCGSA joined forces with the University of Calgary Students’ Union and the Students’ Association of Bow Valley College to submit our joint provincial budget submission to the Government of Alberta. This submission is part of the provincial budget cycle, when individuals and organizations can propose spending priorities and regulatory changes before January. After this period, the Treasury Board and Ministry of Finance finalize the province’s spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year.

Our Key Priorities

In our submission, we highlighted three major areas that directly impact graduate students:

1. Expanding Unrestricted University Funding – Stable and flexible funding sources, such as the Campus Alberta Grant (which supports graduate student pay), are essential for sustaining quality education and research.
2. Increasing Student Housing Options – Affordable, accessible housing remains a significant challenge, particularly for graduate students with families or dependents. We’re advocating for more family-friendly housing solutions on and near campuses.
3. Supporting Graduate Research and Innovation – We also included briefs on two of our white papers: Soften the Blow, which calls for adopting Quebec’s tribunal-based “soft rent cap” model to improve housing affordability, and A Meritorious Alberta Advantage, which recommends expanding the number of research scholarships available to Alberta’s graduate students. The latter paper, which was part of our Mintz Panel submission, was officially released last week—stay tuned for more updates soon!

Informed by Student Voices

Our recommendations were shaped by responses to the Annual Graduate Student Survey, ensuring the submission reflects the real needs and priorities of our community. This is just one part of UCGSA’s ongoing provincial advocacy work. We’ll continue to advance these priorities through additional briefs, presentations, and meetings throughout and beyond the budget cycle.

Stay Connected

If you have questions or want to learn more about our advocacy efforts, reach out to advocacy.gsa@ucalgary.ca. Together, we can help shape a stronger, more supportive future for Alberta’s graduate students.