Contracting out ancillary services shifts costs from universities to communities, report says
CUPE, which represents some 700,000 workers across the country, recently released a report on the costs of contracting out food and custodial services. It shows that shifting to private companies for these services results in lower wages for workers, less union representation and reduced access to pensions, sick leave and other benefits. This shifts costs onto communities, particularly to people who are already vulnerable and marginalized, the report says, noting that workers in food and custodial services are more likely to be women, Black or racialized, or newcomers to Canada. A Statistics Canada study released in August 2021 estimated that the pandemic may have cost Canadian universities between $438 million and $2.5 billion of projected revenues in 2020/2021. It noted that while provincial funding has been the main source of revenue for Canadian universities, it has declined as a percent of total revenue over the last two decades. The result has been an increased reliance on tuition and ancillary services revenue, which have been particularly vulnerable over the least two years.
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