The Vanier College Teachers’ Association
News Bulletin #3 – 2025/2026, February 2, 2026
🎉 Welcome Back & Here to Support You
The semester is already well underway, and many of you have been back on campus for several weeks now. Still, we’d like to take a moment to wish you a strong and positive start to the term (even if it no longer quite feels like the beginning).
As always, the VCTA office is here to support you. Whether you’re looking for information, advice, or representation, we are only a phone call or email away. Before making decisions such as turning down work or responding to administrative requests, we strongly encourage you to consult with us to fully understand the implications.
We can assist with, among other things:
- information about workloads, seniority, and hiring priority
- questions related to salary, leaves, or absences
- guidance on insurance and pension plans
- assistance with revaluation of scholarity and/or experience
- access to Professional Development funds
- concerns related to health and safety in the workplace
- help navigating College structures, processes, and procedures
Please reach out to us as soon as possible if:
- the administration intends to proceed with an administrative evaluation of your work
- you are summoned to meet with an administrator
- you believe your rights under the Collective Agreement may have been violated
- you are facing a stressful or difficult workplace situation
- you experience disrespectful or discriminatory interactions
All consultations are strictly confidential.
🤔 When in Doubt — Reach Out
If you’re unsure whether a situation is something the union can help with, that’s often the best time to contact us. You don’t need to have all the details sorted out; we’re happy to listen, help clarify your options, and advise on next steps.
As your union, we remain committed to advocating for your rights, supporting your professional needs, and fostering a strong and collegial community. Beyond individual support, the VCTA also plays an active role in advocating collectively for teachers by representing faculty interests in College committees and consultations, monitoring institutional decisions that affect teaching conditions, and working to ensure that policies and practices respect the Collective Agreement.
Keep an eye on our News Bulletins, emails, and General Assembly announcements for updates on negotiations and other important issues.
👉 A Note for New Teachers
If you are new to Vanier or new to teaching in the college system, we warmly invite you to connect with the VCTA. The union can help clarify how different teaching contexts operate, including key distinctions between Continuing Education and the Day Division, how absences are counted, and how workload, seniority, and priority are calculated in different situations.
Many of these rules are not intuitive, and a brief conversation early on can go a long way toward avoiding confusion later. Whether you have a specific question or simply want a general overview, we’re always happy to meet.
✍ How to Reach the VCTA
The VCTA office is located in C-101. You are welcome to drop by during office hours, contact us by phone at ext. 7053, or reach us by email at vcta@vaniercollege.qc.ca
Office hours
| Mondays | Anne Bernard (11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.) Hakim Loudyi (1:00–2:00 p.m.) Sandi Mak (2:00–3:00 p.m.) |
| Tuesdays | Hugo Casanova (1:30–3:00 p.m.) Sandi Mak (3:00–4:00 p.m.) |
| Wednesdays | Hakim Loudyi (11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.) |
| Thursdays | Katie Rose (12:00–1:30 p.m.) |
If these times are not convenient, we are also available by appointment. Simply get in touch with us at vcta@vaniercollege.qc.ca, and we will be happy to arrange a time to meet.
📌 Law 14 – Documenting the impacts and future needs.
Quebec Law 14 (formerly Bill 96, An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec) was passed in June 2022 in order to strengthen the Charter of the French language.
Several aspects of this law had immediate and direct impacts on the English network, affecting students, teachers and administrations.
Among them is the fixed cap on admissions for English cegeps, effectively freezing their size to the 2022 levels. In the meantime, overflowing French cegeps are forced to absorb the growing students’ demographics, resulting in students struggling to find a spot in their region and in systemic space deficits, especially in a period of budget cuts where basic infrastructure maintenance is limited, let alone renovations and the much-needed expansions.
The priority admission clause – at least half of the available seats have to be offered to certificate holders in all programs in English CEGEPS, is also coming with potential adversarial effects. Without sufficient perspective on the long-term impacts, it is clear that it scares away a portion of the non-certificate holders from even applying to English cegeps in competitive PreU programs, as they fear not being offered a spot in their first-round application. And for the technical programs with smaller cohorts, it could contribute to decrease the preparedness and motivation of students, whose success in prescribed time could be affected. Impacts on retention levels and future admission numbers could be expected.
With regard to the imposition of the French Exit Exam (EUF) for all non-certificate holders, initial fears expressed about our students being less prepared than their counterparts in French-speaking institutions (only three 45-hour courses and no French immersion) seem to materialize, with success rates well below those of the English Exit Exam. The French department has been overworked in the last three years, with the multiplication of new courses to prepare and offer, a Centre d’Aide en Français (CAF) to create, manage and adjust to new students’ needs, while competing with the other cegeps for hiring.
In all programs, grids had to be revised and most disciplines had to prepare new courses in French to be included in the students’ paths. The impact on their success in these courses, depending on their mastery of the French language is concerning, yet not documented. Teachers’ workloads in certain disciplines are also being affected, gradually, as the full deployment of the law will take years.
When the law was first imposed, it came with resources and a lettre d’entente negotiated by the union federation, offering guaranties on our working conditions. So far, the envelope aimed at promoting students’ success in the EUF is recuring. However, funds aimed at facilitating the transition, including release time for teachers working on their French language skills and creating resources in French for their departments, are discontinued. Also, the lettre d’entente will come to an end in December 2027, just before our current collective agreement in April 2028, while the real needs and extra costs related to the grids’ complexification are still hard to evaluate.
In this evolving, uncertain situation, we need to document the impacts and the short- and long-terms needs that we would like to see addressed in a renewed entente, or even in an annex of next collective agreement. If you have ideas to share and feel like contributing to this discussion, please sign-up to the Law 14 committee list at the next GA, or let us know by passing by the office or by email.
🚩 Social strike in May?
Although the government is showing signs of collapse with several recent resignations, including that of the Prime Minister, and in the face of historically low poll ratings, we should still expect the numerous bills tabled in 2025 to proceed through parliamentary process in the next weeks and months.
In response to the multiplication of these divisive and authoritarian bills tabled by the CAQ, union federations and civil society organizations are discussing possible mobilization strategies. On November 29, more than 50000 people marched in the streets in response to Bill 3’s anti-union attacks. Last week, delegates from the Regroupement Cegep participated in a demonstration in front of the Labor Minister’s offices to demand the withdrawal of the authoritarian bills, reinvestment in the social safety net, and action on the climate crisis.
Other actions are in the works, and a possible social strike involving students, workers and civil society at large is currently being discussed – the date of May 1st, International Worker’s Day, could be an option.
😱 Meetings with Deans or Human Resources
From time to time, a teacher may be asked to meet with a Dean, administrator, or a representative from Human Resources. If this happens and you are unsure how to proceed, we strongly encourage you to contact the VCTA before the meeting takes place.
These meetings can cover a wide range of topics, and it is not always clear in advance whether they are informal, administrative, or evaluative in nature. Reaching out to the union early allows us to help clarify the purpose of the meeting, ensure that your rights under the Collective Agreement are respected, and provide appropriate support.
As a general principle, teachers should not attend meetings with administrators or managers without union representation, nor engage in discussions with parents or third parties regarding student matters, without first consulting the VCTA. This protects both you and the integrity of the process.
If you receive a request for a meeting and are uncertain about its context or implications, please contact us as soon as possible. We are here to advise, support, and, when appropriate, accompany you. All consultations are confidential.
📅 Save the Date: Retirement Planning Workshop (March 25)
The VCTA is pleased to invite all members to an upcoming FNÉÉQ retirement planning workshop, taking place on Wednesday, March 25, from 12:00–1:30 p.m., during the universal break.
The workshop will be offered in English and is open to all teachers, whether you are beginning to think about retirement, actively planning the next few years, or simply curious about how retirement options work within our system. Topics will include an overview of RREGOP, progressive retirement versus workload reduction, and considerations and pathways for different stages of your career.
This session is meant to be informative and accessible, with time for questions. We encourage you to mark your calendars and join us for what promises to be a helpful and practical discussion. More details, including location and registration information, will follow.
💵Support for Retirement Celebrations
The VCTA is happy to support departments and colleagues who are organizing retirement celebrations for members of our teaching community.
If you are a department coordinator or are involved in planning a retirement gathering, you are welcome to reach out to the VCTA to learn more about how the union can help subsidize these events. We see these celebrations as an important way to recognize and honour the contributions of our colleagues, and we are pleased to be able to offer support.
For more information or to discuss details, please feel free to drop by the VCTA office or contact us directly. We’d be happy to chat.
📅Upcoming VCTA Workshops — Dates to Be Announced
The VCTA is currently planning a series of informational workshops for members, with more details and dates to be announced in the coming weeks.
Planned topics include a session on CI and its implications for hiring priority and seniority, aimed at clarifying how CI is calculated and how it can affect workload, priority, and longer-term career considerations, as well as an introduction to Robert’s Rules of Order, focusing on meeting procedures and decision-making processes useful for departmental meetings, committees, and union activities.
These workshops are intended to be accessible and practical, with time for questions and discussion. We encourage members to keep an eye out for upcoming announcements and to save space in their calendars. If there are topics you would like the VCTA to explore in future workshops, we welcome your suggestions. Feel free to reach out with ideas or questions.
💡 How to Read Your Contract
Your employment contract contains important information about your pay, workload, and recognized qualifications. Taking the time to review it carefully can help ensure that your salary and benefits accurately reflect your experience and credentials.
The VCTA encourages members to review their contracts early in the semester, as small discrepancies are often easier to resolve when identified sooner rather than later.
To support you in this process, the VCTA has prepared a guide to reading your contract, highlighting key elements such as scholarity, seniority, echelon, and workload, along with clear explanations of how these values are used (see attachment). The guide also includes a reference table to help you quickly cross-check your scholarity and echelon against the appropriate pay scale.
Whether you are new to teaching at Vanier or simply want to confirm that everything is in order, this guide is designed to make the process straightforward and accessible. If you have questions or notice any discrepancies, please contact the VCTA at vcta@vaniercollege.qc.ca we’re happy to help review your contract with you.
📅 Dates of Upcoming Meetings
- General Assembly (Amphitheatre)
Wednesday, February 4 (12:00-1:30)
- Wednesday, March 18
- Wedensday, April 8
- CRT (Thursdays, 2:00 – 4:00; on TEAMS)
- February 19
- April 16
- April 23
- April 30
- May 7
- Association Council (Thursdays, 1:30 – 3:30; F-216)
- February 26
- March 26
- Academic Council (Fridays, 1:00-4:00; F-216)
- February 20
- April 24
- May 29
- Board of Governors (Tuesday, 6:30; F-216)
- March 24
- May 19
- June 16