October 2018
Contract U
Contract faculty appointments
at Canadian universities
• Our data reveals that more than half of all faculty appointments in
Canada are contract appointments. In 2016-17, 38,681 faculty ap-
pointments, or 53.60 per cent, were contract positions compared to
33,490 tenured and tenure-track appointments.
Overall, our data suggests that while public funding cuts may have played
a role in universities’ reliance on contract faculty, austerity alone cannot
explain this decision, since rates of contract appointments vary so much
between universities in similar circumstances. The trend also does not appear
to be a result of changing market demand for certain disciplines, nor, on the
whole, the result of personal choices by tenured faculty or contract faculty.
Rather, reliance on contract faculty appears to be largely driven by
choices made by university administrations, raising questions about the
role of universities as employer and educator. Our findings lead us to the
conclusion that the heavy reliance on contract faculty in Canadian universi-
ties is a structural issue, not a temporary approach to hiring.
The solutions to precarious faculty work in Canadian universities are
multi-faceted. Universities need to take seriously their responsibility to their
students, to their workers, and to the public that finances them. Governments
have a role to play in ensuring adequate funding and in adopting stronger
labour protections. We also need more and better data from Statistics Canada
to adequately understand the roots of the problem and its solutions.
While our stereotypical image of precarious workers is often young people in low-skilled, entry-level jobs, the
reality, as highlighted by the recent CCPA report No Safe Harbour: Precarious Work and Economic Insecurity
Among Skilled Professionals in Canada, is that a growing number of precarious workers are in highly skilled,
professional positions. In this regard, the post-secondary sector can be seen as something of a bellwether sec-
tor, revealing trends that are taking place in the broader labour market.
Some contract faculty are professionals working in their field who teach one or two courses on the side and
have no wish for full-time employment. Others are retired professors coming back to teach a course. But there
are also many who are teaching part-time or on contract solely because they can’t find permanent, full-time
academic employment. According to a recent national survey by the Canadian Association of University Teach-
ers, more than half of contract faculty want a tenure-track or permanent appointment.4
25
20
15
10
0
Newfoundland Prince New Nova Quebec Ontario Manitoba Saskatchewan Alberta British
and Labrador Edward Brunswick Scotia Columbia
Island
number of schools with tenure also have non-tenured faculty with permanent
contracts. Since our primary concern for this research was job security,
we grouped these faculty with the tenured and tenure-track faculty in our
analysis. In this paper, then, the terms tenured and tenure-track are used to
refer to all faculty on permanent contracts or on a pathway to permanency.
It is also important to note that, for the most part, the numbers we
received represent appointments rather than individuals. Three schools
indicated that they removed individuals with appointments in multiple
departments so that they only appeared once.25 Because the information is
about appointments, there are some limitations as to what the data reveals.
We don’t know to what extent differences between provinces or schools
represent different approaches to contract appointments—such as relying on
per-course appointments compared to multi-course appointments. We don’t
know anything about the individual make-up of contract faculty (including
breakdowns by gender, race, education, and other employment), and we
don’t know what conditions they work in (including remuneration, benefits,
working hours, or institutional support).
Our data reveals that more than half of faculty appointments in Canada
are contract appointments. In 2016-17, 38,681 faculty appointments, or 53.60
per cent, were contract appointments, compared to 33,490 tenured and
tenure-track appointments.
Our findings also show that part-time contract appointments predomin-
ate. Among the institutions that were able to break down contract faculty
appointments into part-time and full-time categories, part-time appointments
accounted for nearly 80 per cent of all contract appointments in 2016-17
(see Figure 2).
The reliance on contract faculty also appears to be structural, rather
than a temporary response to changing circumstances. Our data show
that the reliance on contract appointments in Canadian universities has
not really changed throughout the past decade, beyond a slight increase
in the proportion of contract faculty and a slight decline in the proportion
of tenured and tenure-track faculty. The balance shifted from a majority of
tenured and tenure-track faculty to a majority of contract faculty some time
prior to 2006-07.
Similarly, the proportion of contract appointments that are part-time has
barely budged, staying close to 80 per cent over the last decade.
Trends by discipline
There is significant variation in the use of contract faculty by discipline (see
Figure 3). At one end of the spectrum, 90 per cent of the faculty appointments
in continuing education are contract, compared to veterinary medicine,
where only 10 per cent of faculty appointments are contract.
In nine subject areas, contract appointments make up half or more of all
appointments: continuing education, education, business, law, humanities,
health sciences, architecture, trades, and social sciences. However, heavy
reliance on contract appointments pervades the entire university system: only
in agriculture and veterinary medicine do contract appointments represent
less than one-third of appointments.
However, because the total number of people working within each
discipline also varies significantly, the greatest total number of contract
faculty appointments are found in fields aimed at a particular profession
(agriculture, architecture, business, education, engineering, law, library
science, and veterinary medicine), followed by the health sciences and the
humanities.26 The smallest number of contract faculty appointments are in
the social sciences and science (see Figure 4).
A common defense of universities’ reliance on contract faculty is that
contract faculty largely represent professionals working in their fields who
Contract Tenured/Tenure-track
Continuing
Education
Education
Business
Law
Humanities
Health Sciences
Architecture
Trades
Social Sciences
Library Science
Engineering
Science
Agriculture
Veterinary
Medicine
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Social
Sciences Science
8%
Other
10%
Humanities
10%
Professional
Programs
Health Sciences
47%
7% 19%
Figure 7 Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science Faculty by Employment Status, 2016-17
12,000
Contract Tenured/Tenure-track
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
Humanities Social Sciences Science
Contract Tenured/Tenure-track
Newfoundland
and Labrador
Prince Edward
Island
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Quebec
Ontario
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Alberta
British Columbia
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
see variations in the use of contract appointments. Only 39 per cent of faculty
appointments in science are contract. In the social sciences, half are contract,
while in the humanities 56 per cent of positions are contract. Within each
field, however, there is significant variation. For example, in some science
departments, more than half of faculty appointments are contract. Similarly,
in some humanities departments, more than half of faculty appointments
are tenured and tenure-track.
Trends by province
There are significant differences in the use of contract appointments by
province. At 61 per cent, Quebec relies much more on contract faculty than
other provinces.27 Ontario and B.C. are also above the national average, at
54 per cent and 55 per cent respectively. In the middle stands Manitoba (52
per cent), Nova Scotia (53 per cent), and Newfoundland and Labrador (52
per cent). New Brunswick (47 per cent) and Saskatchewan (43 per cent) are
significantly below the national average. P.E.I. and Alberta (39 per cent) have
the lowest rates of contract faculty appointments (see Figure 8).
Trends by institution
Overall, there are 13 universities in Canada where contract appointments
are more than two-thirds of all faculty appointments (and six of them are in
Quebec). On the flip side, there are nine universities where fewer than one-
third of faculty appointments are contract. That includes one university that
has no contract faculty appointments: the Institut national de la recherche
scientifique (see Table 1).
While the overall proportion of contract, tenured, and tenure-track ap-
pointments has remained steady, there have been changes among the various
disciplines over time. The big disciplines of the humanities, science, and
social sciences have remained stable, with a slight increase in contract faculty
in science and a very slight decline in contract faculty in the humanities.
Some of the smaller fields, such as agriculture, architecture, and trades,
have shown some volatility over time, but have nevertheless ended up with
proportions relatively similar to those at the beginning of the dataset. Educa-
tion has seen a slight increase in tenured and tenure-track appointments,
while business has seen a slight increase in contract appointments. Three
55%
50%
45%
40%
35%
Engineering
Health Sciences
30%
Law
Library Science
25%
2006–07 2008–09 2010–11 2012–13 2014–15 2016–17
Health Sciences
Business
Science
Engineering
Social Sciences
Law
Trades
Continuing
Education
Education
Contract Tenured/tenure-track
Humanities
But in the areas that have seen the greatest growth over the past 10
years—health sciences, business, and engineering—contract appointments
have significantly outpaced new tenured and tenure-track appointments.
Science has seen a similar trend but on a smaller scale.
70%
Metropolitan area Rest of province
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Nova Scotia Quebec Ontario Manitoba Alberta British Columbia
The trends revealed in our dataset shed some light on the common
explanations given for the post-secondary sector’s reliance on contract faculty.
1. Better data
Our dataset reveals that the extent of precarity in the post-secondary sector is
significant. But while our research is the first of its kind on a national scale,
there are limits to what information can be acquired through Freedom of
Information requests. Not only are we missing universities and years of data,
we are unable to provide a demographic profile of contract faculty, nor can we
assess their credentials and the lengths of their contract. The data was also
not disaggregated by gender or race. Much more needs to be done to obtain
an accurate and fulsome picture of precarity in the post-secondary sector.
This should start with much better data-gathering and reporting by the
governments that fund public universities. Statistics Canada should ensure
that full and complete data is gathered annually on part-time academic staff
and that data for full- and part-time staff clearly identifies employment status
broken down by gender and other employment equity categories. As we have
seen, approximately 20 per cent of contract faculty are full-time. We also
know that some institutions have part-time tenured or permanent positions.
Simply asking for the full- or part-time status of staff tells us nothing about
the long-term security of the worker, which is as relevant to the question
of quality education as is their full- or part-time status. Similarly, academic
rank might be interesting and important information, but it is not the same
as knowing whether someone is permanently or precariously employed.
Acadia University ü ü ü ü ü
Algoma University ü ü ü ü ü
Bishop’s University ü ü
Brandon University ü ü ü ü
Brock University ü ü ü ü
Cape Breton University ü ü ü ü
Capilano University ü ü
Carleton University ü ü ü ü ü
Dalhousie University ü ü ü ü
Dominican University ü ü ü ü ü
École de technologie supérieure ü ü ü ü ü
École des Hautes Études Commerciales ü ü ü
École nationale d’administration publique ü ü ü
École Polytechnique de Montréal ü ü ü ü
Emily Carr University ü ü ü
Grant MacEwan University ü ü ü ü
Institut national de la recherche scientifique ü ü ü
Kwantlen Polytechnic University ü ü ü ü ü
Laurentian University ü
McMaster University ü ü ü
Memorial University ü ü ü ü ü
Mount Allison University ü ü ü ü
Mount Royal University ü ü ü ü ü
Mount Saint Vincent ü ü ü ü
Nipissing University ü ü ü ü
NSCAD University ü ü ü
OCAD University ü ü ü ü
Queen’s University ü ü ü ü
Royal Roads University ü ü ü ü
Saint Mary’s University ü ü ü ü ü
Simon Fraser University ü ü ü ü ü
St. Francis Xavier University ü ü ü ü ü
St. Thomas University ü ü ü ü ü
Thompson Rivers University ü ü
Trent University ü ü ü ü ü
Université de Montréal ü ü ü ü
Université de Saint-Boniface ü ü ü ü ü
Université de Sherbrooke ü ü
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi ü ü ü
Université du Québec à Rimouski ü ü ü
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières ü ü ü ü ü
Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue ü ü ü ü
Université du Québec en Outaouais ü
Université Laval ü ü ü ü
Université Sainte-Anne ü ü
University College of the North ü ü ü ü
University of Alberta ü ü ü ü ü
University of British Columbia ü ü ü ü ü
University of Calgary ü ü ü ü
University of Guelph ü ü ü ü
University of King’s College ü ü ü
University of Lethbridge ü ü ü ü
University of Manitoba ü ü ü ü
University of New Brunswick ü ü ü ü ü
University of Northern British Columbia ü ü ü ü ü
University of Ottawa ü ü ü ü ü
University of Prince Edward Island ü ü ü ü
University of Regina ü ü ü
University of Saskatchewan ü ü ü ü ü
University of the Fraser Valley ü ü ü ü
University of Waterloo ü ü ü ü
University of Windsor ü ü ü ü
University of Winnipeg ü ü ü ü
Vancouver Island University ü ü
Western University ü ü ü ü ü
Wilfrid Laurier University ü ü ü ü ü
York University ü ü ü ü
Memorial University 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes Yes 2017-04-21 2017-06-01
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
Mount Allison University 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes Yes 2017-04-25 2017-05-31
2016-17 2016-17
St. Thomas University 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes Yes 2017-04-25 2017-07-18
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
Université de Moncton 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes No 2017-04-27
2016-17 2016-17
University of New 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes Yes 2017-04-25 2017-06-21
Brunswick 2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
Nova Scotia
Acadia University 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes Yes 2017-04-18 2017-06-13
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
Cape Breton University 2007-08– 2007-08– 2006-07– Partial Partial Partial 2017-05-05
2011-12, 2011-12, 2016-17
2013-14– 2013-14–
2016-17 2016-17
Dalhousie University 2012-13– 2012-13– 2012-13– Yes Yes Yes 2017-05-05
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
Mount Saint Vincent 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes No Yes 2017-05-05 2017-08-16
University 2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
NSCAD University 2006-07– 2006-07– Partial Partial Yes 2017-05-05 2017-07-20
2016-17 2016-17
Saint Mary’s University 2006-07– n/a 2006-07– Yes Yes Yes 2017-05-05 2017-06-15
2016-17 2016-17
St. Francis Xavier 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes Yes 2017-05-05 2017-07-19
University 2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
Quebec
Ontario
Algoma University 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes Yes 2017-05-05 2017-11-10
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
Brock University 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes No Yes 2017-05-05 2017-06-23
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
Carleton University 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes Yes 2017-05-05 2017-06-19
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
Dominican University 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes Yes 2017-05-05 2017-05-29
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
Lakehead University 2017-05-05
Laurentian University 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Partial Partial 2017-05-05 2017-08-29
2007-08, 2016-17 2016-17
2009-10–
2016-17
Trent University 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes Yes 2017-05-05 2017-07-20
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
University of Guelph 2006-07– 2006-07– 2010-11– Yes Yes Partial 2017-05-05
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
University of Ontario 2017-05-05
Institute of Technology
University of Ottawa 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes Partial 2017-05-05 2018-02-27
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
University of Toronto 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes No 2017-05-05 2017-06-16
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
University of Waterloo 2006-07– 2006-07– 2012-13– Yes Yes Partial 2017-05-05
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
University of Windsor 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Partial Yes 2017-05-05 2018-03-07
2016-17 2016-17
Western University 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes Yes 2017-05-05 2017-08-17
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
Wilfrid Laurier University 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes Yes 2017-05-05 2017-09-05
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
York University 2006-07– 2006-07– Partial Partial Yes 2017-05-05 2018-07-11
2016-17 2016-17
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Grant MacEwan University 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes No Yes 2017-05-05 2017-06-19
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
Mount Royal University 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes Yes 2017-05-05 2017-07-18
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
University of Alberta 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes Yes Yes 2017-05-05 2017-06-19
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
University of Calgary 2006-07– 2006-07– 2006-07– Yes No Yes 2017-05-05 2017-07-28
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17
University of Lethbridge 2006-07– n/a 2006-07– Yes No Yes 2017-05-05 2017-09-11
2016-17 2016-17
British Columbia
Information Complaint to
Initial Covered by Requested Information Initial Amount Total
Institution Fee Estimate Fee Estimate Reassessment Commissioner Fee Paid Reimbursed Fee Paid
Algoma University $1,470 All Fee not $1,470 $660 $810
reduced
Athabasca University $21,870 All In progress
* Note This list does not include initial request fees of $5 per request in Nova Scotia and Ontario, $20 per request in Saskatchewan and $25 per request in Alberta, nor the $25
fee to file an appeal with the Information Commissioner of Ontario.
Algoma University Excessive fees 2017-06-23 2017-10-27 Resolved through mediation, fee not reduced.
Kwantlen Polytechnic University Excessive fees 2017-06-23 2018-03-02 Fee reduced upon review by Commissioner
Queen’s University Excessive fees 2017-06-23 2017-09-22 Resolved through mediation; fee reduced by
changing scope.
Ryerson University Complete refusal 2017-08-10 2017-11-15 Appeal dismissed at intake stage.
Université du Québec en Partial refusal 2017-06-29 2018-09-14 Resolved; withdrew complaint at adjudication stage
Outaouais when university unions provided the information the
institution refused to provide.
Université Laval Partial refusal 2017-05-19 Ongoing.
University of Ottawa Complete refusal 2017-09-25 2018-03-01 Resolved through mediation; information released.
University of Waterloo Partial refusal 2018-03-27 2018-09-21 Resolved through mediation; some additional
information released.
University of Windsor Complete refusal 2017-06-23 2018-03-07 Resolved; FOI request and complaint withdrawn;
information released informally.
University of Winnipeg Excessive fees 2017-08-14 2017-11-14 Appeal dismissed; fee not reduced.
Vancouver Island University Deemed refusal 2018-01-09 2018-01-26 Resolved; university provided a response.
(failed to respond)
To find out what may have motivated the refusal to release information
by certain universities, whether through an outright refusal or through the
imposition of extremely high fees, we approached the local unions and
faculty associations at schools that refused to release information.
In some cases, the local unions and faculty associations were able to
provide us with the requested information, demonstrating that a lack of
information or ease of collecting the information was not the principal
barrier to releasing the requested records.
For instance, at Dalhousie University, where the University said it would
cost $55,000 to compile six years of data, CUPE 3912 and the Dalhousie Faculty
Association were able to provide us with the missing information based on
reports which Dalhousie University sends to them every year.
Similarly, the McGill University Faculty Association was able to provide
us with a report, compiled by the university, which included a statistical
breakdown of faculty by employment status.
The information obtained in this manner suggest that the data in our
report can be considered representative of the overall trends, even without
the inclusion of every university.
For instance, the information provided by CUPE 3912 and the DFA show
that the overall proportion of contract appointments to tenure/tenure-track
appointments at Dalhousie University has not changed between the excluded
years and the included years.
1 Ira Basen, “Most University Undergrads Now Taught by Poorly Paid Part-Timers,” CBC News,
September 7, 2014; Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, “Faculty from Across
Canada Participate in OCUFA’s Fourth Social Media Day of Action,” March 8, 2018, https://ocufa.
on.ca/blog-posts/faculty-across-canada-participate-ocufas-fourth-social-media-day-action/;
Canadian Union of Public Employees, Quality Jobs, Quality Education, Better Futures Report: What
We Heard About Precarious Work In the Post-Secondary Sector, June 2017, https://cupe.ca/sites/
cupe/files/report_townhalls_2017_05_18.pdf; OCUFA, “Confronting Precarious Academic Work,”
2016, https://ocufa.on.ca/conferences/confronting-precarious-academic-work/.
2 Teresa Healy, “Public Exclusion, Underfunding and the Intensification of Work: Universities
and the Erosion of Democracy in Ontario,” Just Labour, 2002, Vol. 1, pp. 68–76; Indhu Rajagopal,
Hidden Academics: Contract Faculty in Canadian Universities, Toronto: University of Toronto
Press, 2002; Harold Bauder, “The Segmentation of Academic Labour: A Canadian Example,”
ACME, 2006, Vol. 4 (2), pp. 228–239; Vicky Smallman, “Academic Labour: The Canadian Context,”
Cinema Journal, Vol. 45, No. 4 (Summer, 2006), pp. 108–112.
3 Canadian Association of University Teachers, CAUT Facts and Figures 2017, January 2017, https://
www.caut.ca/docs/default-source/Mailings-2017/caut---facts-and-figures-(2017-01).pdf?sfvrsn=0.
4 Karen Foster and Louise Birdsell Bauer, Out of the Shadows: Experiences of Contract Academic
Staff, Canadian Association of University Teachers, September 2018, https://www.caut.ca/sites/
default/files/cas_report.pdf; Karen Foster, Precarious U: Contract Faculty in Nova Scotia Universi-
ties, Association of Nova Scotia University Teachers, 2016, http://ansut.caut.ca/wp-content/
uploads/2016/09/ANSUT-Precarious-U-Final-Report.pdf; Cynthia C. Field and Glen A. Jones, A
Survey of Sessional Faculty in Ontario Publicly-Funded Universities, Toronto: Centre for the Study
of Canadian and International Higher Education, OISE-University of Toronto, 2016, https://www.
oise.utoronto.ca/hec/UserFiles/File/Sessional_Faculty_-_OHCRIF_Final_Report_-_July_2016.pdf.
5 Foster, Precarious U.
8 Jack Hauen and Zak Vescera, “Choosing ‘Between Groceries and Rent’: Low Wages, No
Security for Hundreds of UBC Professors,” February 27, 2018, https://www.ubyssey.ca/features/
9 Marlea Clarke, Wayne Lewchuk, Alice de Wolff, and Andy King, “‘This Just Isn’t Sustainable’:
Precarious Employment, Stress and Workers’ Health,” International Journal of Law and Psychiatry,
2007, Vol. 30, pp. 311–326.
10 Michelle Webber, “Miss Congeniality Meets the New Managerialism: Feminism, Contingent
Labour, and the New University,” Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 2008, Vol. 38 (3), pp.
37–56; Louise Birdsell Bauer, Permanently Precarious? Contingent Academic Faculty Members,
Professional Identity and Institutional Change in Quebec Universities, Masters Thesis, Concordia
University, April 2011, https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/7285/1/BirdsellBauer_MA_S2011.
pdf; Andrew Robinson, “A Personal Perspective of Contract Instructing in Ontario,” Academic
Matters, Spring 2015; Erika Shaker and Robin Shaban, No Temporary Solution: Ontario’s Shifting
College and University Workforce, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, February 2018.
12 Paul D. Umbach and Matthew R. Wawrzynski, “Faculty Do Matter: The Role of College Faculty
in Student Learning and Engagement,” Research in Higher Education, March 2005, Vol. 46 (2),
pp. 153–184.
13 For more on the impact of precarity on students, see Jamie Brownlee, Academia, Inc., pp. 65–68.
17 David N. Figlio, Morton O. Schapiro, and Kevin B. Soter, “Are Tenure Track Professors Better
Teachers?” The Review of Economics and Statistics, October 2015, Vol. 97 (4), pp. 715–724.
18 There is some debate over how to interpret this increase, given the fact that UCASS focuses
on rank rather than employment status. For instance, education consultant Alex Usher argues
that the increase in non-ranked faculty is almost exclusively the result of adding universities that
do not use academic ranks to the survey. The data we received from these universities suggest
that their addition made up most of the difference in 2009-10, the year this category experienced
a big increase, but it does not fully account for the difference between 2008-09 and 2016-17.
Statistics Canada, “Number of Full-Time Teaching Staff at Canadian universities, by Rank, Sex,
Canada and Provinces,” Table 37-10-0076-01 (formerly CANSIM 477-0017), accessed July 21, 2018;
Alex Usher, Twitter post, September 4, 2018, 11:10 am, https://twitter.com/AlexUsherHESA/
status/1037040108271267840.
19 Statistics Canada has made some attempts to gather data on part-time faculty in the past. In
the 1990s they conducted some surveys of part-time faculty but because they were not mandatory,
the surveys had low participation rates and the results were not statistically reliable (Association
of Universities and Colleges of Canada, Trends in Higher Education Volume 2: Faculty, 2007, p. 24).
20 Canadian Association of University Teachers Almanac 2015-16, “Table 2.12 Labour Force
Estimates of University Professors, College and Other Vocational Instructors, and All Occupations.”
21 Similarly, a review of Labour Force Survey data for the province of Ontario conducted by the
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives showed a decline in the proportion of full-time university
instructors from 19.6 per cent in 1999 to 15 per cent in 2016 (Erika Shaker and Robin Shaban, No
Temporary Solution: Ontario’s Shifting College and University Workforce, Canadian Centre for
Policy Alternatives, February 2018.)
23 Brownlee, then a PhD student at Carleton University in Ottawa, submitted Freedom of Informa-
tion requests to 18 Ontario universities, covering the period from 2000 to 2010. Brownlee requested
data only for faculties and departments within the Social Sciences and Humanities. He received
data from all 18 universities, although the responses from two institutions (Lakehead University
and McMaster University) were not usable. Brownlee’s research was only possible because FIPPA
legislation had recently been extended to cover universities. The Ontario Confederation of University
Faculty Associations had attempted a similar project in 2004 before FIPPA had been extended to
universities. While the universities each had a voluntary disclosure policy, only seven responded
to the request, with just three providing the requested information.
24 Jamie Brownlee, “Contract Faculty in Canada: Using Access to Information Requests to Uncover
Hidden Academics in Canadian Universities,” Higher Education, Vol. 70, No. 5, 2015, pp. 787–805.
25 Mount Royal University provided us with both appointments and the total number of contract
faculty, which gave us a sense of what the difference might look like. In 2016-17, the number of
contract appointments exceeded the number of contract faculty by 51 — with 410 contract faculty
members and 461 contract appointments. At other schools, of course, the balance may be different,
with contract appointments more or less aligned with the number of individuals.
26 This should not be taken to mean that contract appointments are primarily an issue in the health
sciences and professional fields. Even when removing these disciplines from the dataset, the rate
of contract appointments remains above 50 per cent. With 15,900 appointments in professional
programs and 13,596 appointments in health sciences, these disciplines simply have the highest
overall number of faculty appointments. In contrast, there were 7,989 science appointments in
2016-17 and 7,659 appointments in the social sciences.
27 While we can’t say what accounts for the higher rate of contract appointments in Quebec,
it’s interesting to note that universities in the Université du Québec system have a much higher
reliance on contract appointments (68%) than the universities outside the UQ system (58%).
29 A 2018 poll by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations in Ontario revealed
that three-quarters of respondents were concerned about the impact of precarity on the quality
of education and two-thirds would prefer that university courses be taught by full-time faculty
with secure employment and benefits. Nearly all respondents believe that universities should
be model employers in their communities. OCUFA, The 2018 OCUFA Poll: Public Perceptions
of Precarious Academic Work — Key Results Presentation, March 19, 2018, https://ocufa.on.ca/
assets/2018-OCUFA-POLL-OVERALLFINAL-1-1.pdf.
31 For instance, at York University where CUPE 3903 went on strike for 21 weeks earlier this
year, the administration’s position was that they could not offer more than two contract faculty
members a shot at tenure because they have to “recruit [faculty] from among the world’s most
talented academics.” In 2016-17, York University had 2,287 contract faculty appointments. Its
bargaining position was thus that out of nearly 2,300 appointments, they could not find more
than two people qualified enough to deserve a chance to apply for tenure. Simona Chiose, “York
University, Union at Odds over Temporary Instructor,” The Globe and Mail, March 5, 2018, https://
www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/york-university-contract-faculty-go-on-strike-as-
negotiating-breaks-down/article38205801/.