On September 8, the Employer approached CUFA with an offer to extend the current Collective Agreement. Through a series of discussions that resulted in significant improvements on their original offer, both parties agreed to bringing forth the present agreement for ratification by the membership. The agreement is comprised of an MOA which deals with the all the changes related to the salaries and stipends and an LOA which deals with all the non-monetary additional commitments from the university. The ratification vote is on both together, as a whole package.

Ratification
1) Does the extension agreement need to be ratified by membership?
Yes. Both the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and the Letter of Agreement (LOA) explicitly state that the extension can only take effect upon ratification by the respective principals (i.e., CUFA general membership and Concordia’s Board of Governors, respectively). Without ratification, the current Collective Agreement would expire on May 31, 2026.
2) What is the ratification timeline?
In accordance with the constitution, the CUFA Elections Committee will create a ratification ballot and send out a notification to all members. The vote will take place after the information sessions are concluded, tentatively between February 26 and March 5, 2026. Once voting is closed and the ballots are counted, the CUFA Elections Committee will announce the result to the membership.
3) What happens if the extension agreement is not ratified by membership?
Should the agreement fail to garner a majority vote, the proposal will be withdrawn by the Employer and be null and void. The CUFA Executive will then invoke Article 49 and notify the Employer of our desire to negotiate the renewal of the Collective Agreement set to expire on May 31, 2026. It is important to note that whatever was proposed in the LOA and MOA would not carry over to negotiations – we would be starting negotiations from scratch. At this time we can only speculate about which articles the Employer would choose to open.
4) What does it mean that the CA is “renewed and extended” for another two years?
With the exception of the modifications outlined in the MOA and LOA, everything else in the current Collective Agreement remains unchanged, In other words, all the other CA articles not identified in the MOA or the LOA will continue to be valid as they are defined in the current CA until May 31, 2028 – similar to the extension CUFA agreed upon during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally,  Article 52.02 prescribing the duration of the CA beyond the end of this agreement will hold true. This means that until a new CA is negotiated to take effect beyond May 31, all the non-monetary articles will also continue to apply.

Non-monetary provisions
5) Why not include other non-monetary changes in this agreement?
This was a strategic decision. In consultation with the Chief Negotiator, the Executive concluded that limiting the number of non-monetary requests would allow us to preserve the benefits of the current CA, beyond the monetary articles. We asked for and were granted the current non-monetary clauses from the Employer based on the feedback from the negotiation team.
6) What happens to LTA to ETA conversion?
The LOA confirms that the count of consecutive year during which and LTA position is filled for the same teaching needs (Article 12.05b) is not reset if the position remains unfilled during this extension period. In other words, for each position that is advertised and filled for the same teaching needs (as per Article 12.05b) the ‘clock’ counting the number of consecutive years resumes where it paused, thus ensuring that conversions to ETA positions are possible, where applicable. We also wish to clarify that it was not possible add anything further to this agreement with respect to the LTA positions because there are grievances underway.
7) Which units was the Employer considering merging or closing?
We were not privy to this information as the discussions never reached that point. What is important to understand now is that the LOA provides a formal undertaking on the part of the Employer that no Academic Units will be closed during the extension period (until May 31, 2028). It further reaffirms that any consideration of mergers or program changes must follow normal academic approval processes, as described in Article 43 of the CA.
8) How is hiring affected by this extension agreement?
The LOA guarantees nine CUFA positions in 2026–2027 and at least twenty in 2027–2028; these positions could be LTA, ETA, or TT). Additional hiring is triggered if revenue exceeds $647M, with 16% of excess revenue allocated to hiring. The CUFA Liaison committee will monitor the situation closely to ensure that the allocation of these positions follows the normal processes outlined in the CA (i.e., requests from the Departments are sent to the Deans’ office and approvals from the Provost’s office are granted based on the faculties’ needs).
9) Are performance evaluations affected by this extension agreement?
Yes. Fall 2026 performance evaluations (CA Articles 14.16 and 15.11) are cancelled whose performance was previously assessed as satisfactory. Those members automatically will receive CDI/step increases, as applicable. Full performance evaluations will resume in Fall 2028.
10) What happens to sabbatical leaves?
The University commits to approving all new, first-time sabbatical applications submitted for the 2026–2027 and 2027–2028 academic years without deferral, provided that the standard eligibility requirements are met. The University has indicated that the projected deficit for 2027–2028 would be significantly worsened if all 110+ previously deferred sabbaticals were to be taken concurrently with all new eligible applicants in that same year. Similarly to the LTA positions it was not possible to incorporate any further provisions concerning sabbaticals into the agreement due to the grievances underway.

Monetary provisions
11) Assuming this CA extension is ratified, what are the implications for monetary benefits (i.e., salaries) beyond May 31, 2028?
According to Article 49, either party may give notice of its intention to commence negotiations for a new Collective Agreement up to 365 days prior to the expiry of the Agreement currently in force. Negotiations must begin within twenty (20) days of such notice.
This means that CUFA is entitled to initiate the bargaining process as of June 1, 2027. The Executive is committed to exercising this right at the earliest strategic opportunity in order to position the Association proactively and to build on the substantial groundwork already completed by the current negotiating team.
In accordance with the CUFA Constitution, a negotiating team has to be appointed and approved by Council prior to the commencement of negotiations.
If a new agreement is not reached by May 31, 2028, the usual rules would apply: Eligible CUFA members would move up the grid in 2028-2029 (i.e., the most recent grid calculated for the 2027-2028 academic year). Note: All new CAs finalized past the expiration date of the previous one have included a retroactivity clause – Article 52.05 – and we have every reason to expect this would be the case in the next round of negotiations.
12) How are CDI step increases handled?
In all cases, members receive two advancements on the grid (CDI) during 2026–2028, however, payment of the CDI step increases will be deferred, with their timing tied to Operating Revenue thresholds. Specifically, if revenue exceeds $636M for fiscal year 2026–2027, the step is granted in 2026. Otherwise, the step will be granted on June 1, 2027. (For clarification – the Employer’s initial offer was to grant the step increases only if certain Budget Revenue thresholds were met. We deemed this unacceptable and were able to reach a compromise of deferred payment.)
13) How are salary percentage increases handled?
In addition to CDI step increases, we also receive percentage adjustments to our salaries. Under the current proposal they would be calculated as follows: The percentage increases depend on Operating Revenue exceeding defined thresholds ($647M in 2026–2027; $680M in 2027–2028). Increases are calculated as 16% of excess revenue divided by total salary mass (composed of salary grids, chair stipends and teaching stipends). Minimum (0.5%) and maximum caps (2.5% in first year; 3.5% cumulative second year) apply.
To put this in some perspective, CUFA estimates that the salary mass (composed of salary grids, chairs stipends and teaching stipends) in 2025-2026 is approximately $152M. If this does not change in 2026-2027, $9.5M of excess revenue over the specified threshold of $647M (i.e. $656.5M) would translate to approximately a 1% salary increase.
If the excess revenue amount in the first year of the Agreement is marginal and does not correspond to at least a 0.5% increase to the salary grids, the full amount shall nevertheless remain to CUFA’s benefit and shall be carried forward into the second year of the Agreement.
If the cumulative excess revenue over the two years is still insufficient to support at least a 0.5% increase to the salary grids, the amount shall be allocated either to the hiring of additional CUFA positions or, if not so allocated, to a one-time top-up of CUFA members’ Professional Development Allowance (PDA) accounts.
14) How is Operating Revenue defined?
Operating Revenue refers to total operating fund revenue as reported in audited financial statements published each November. The definition is tied to the reporting structure used in the April 30, 2025, consolidated statement. The newly proposed Budget Liaison Committee – one of the concessions we gained in this agreement – and the (existing) CUFA Liaison Committee will work to ensure transparency on these budget numbers.
15) Why are there different budget revenue numbers for the same academic year?
The university budget office typically generates a preliminary budget at the start of an academic year (based on the May 1 enrolment deadline), but revenue is only finalized on October 1, the deadline imposed by the provincial government to report on final student enrolment numbers. This finalized budget is presented to the Board of Governors for approval in November, and it is this revenue amount approved by the Board of Governors that is used to assess the university deficit/surplus status.
16) In the formula for grid increases, why was 16% used and not another value?
A lower number was initially proposed by the Employer. We convinced the Employer to come up to 16%. In addition, CUFA analyzed the available financial statements on the university page, to reverse engineer how the university negotiated these increases over the past 10 years. We found the following:

Year Concordia Revenues.       (millions) Increase in revenue from the Previous year        (millions) CA Grid % increase Grid salary mass         (millions) 16% of the increase in revenue
2025 643.938 1.34 3.2% 152 0.00%
2024 642.596 34.48 6.0% 143 3.86%
2023 608.121 20.77 2.4% 137 2.43%
2022 587.354 60.41 2.6% 133 7.27%
2021 526.943 -10.41 2.6% 123 0.00%
2020 537.348 13.08 2.4% 118 1.77%
2019 524.272 38.44 3.5% 115 5.35%
2018 485.833 17.13 1.6% 116 2.36%
2017 468.703 28.20 1.4% 117 3.86%
2016 440.508 -6.55 1.0% 113 0.00%
2015 447.057
Total % salary grid increases over the last 10 years (not compounded) 26.7% represents the actual cumulative grid increase 26.9% represents the hypothetical
cumulative grid increase
17) Is the new budget oversight inclusive of faculty?
Yes. A pilot parity Budget Liaison Committee shall be established to provide advisory input no later than six (6) weeks prior to the submission of the budget to the Board of Governors. The CUFA Liaison Committee shall determine the terms of reference and the composition of this advisory committee.
18) Are health and pension structures changed?
No. The parties agree that no structural modifications shall be implemented with respect to the health or pension plans during the extension period. The Administration and CUFA shall formally advise their respective representatives on the Concordia Employee Benefits Committee (Article 41) that the existing health and pension benefit structures are to be maintained for the duration of the extension.

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