What is Bill 33? Let’s break it down.

Sometimes we come across things that aren’t eye-catching, but are truly significant. I know we often miss things when we are inundated with information from social media and life in general. It’s hard to discern what is truly relevant to our lives and what isn’t.

As Humber Polytechnic and University of Guelph-Humber students, you may have heard of the Supporting Children and Students Act (Bill 33) 2025. You may have come across it without fully understanding what it is.

Perhaps you have some vague idea about it? How could it potentially affect Ontario colleges and universities? Perhaps not.

As students, sometimes we are the last to know about issues that directly impact us. We try to stay informed, but with everything going on in our lives, sometimes we miss things.

Bill-33 is one such item of importance. If passed into law, it would have a tremendous impact on students in a number of different areas.

What is a bill?

Before delving into what Bill 33 is, we must first understand what a bill is.

In the context of Canadian law, a bill is simply a proposed law. The process from a bill to a law is as follows:

• The bill is first introduced either in the House of Commons or the Senate.
• There are then multiple stages (called “Readings”), as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) debate the merits of the bill.
• The public can be consulted at a certain point and changes can be made (called the Review by Standing Committee stage).
• The proposed Bill is eventually voted on by MPPs. If passed it receives Royal Assent and become law.

Given that we have a majority provincial government, they can expedite the bill’s passage. 

It isn’t important that you know all the particulars of the legal nuisances of governance, but having a rough idea of what a bill is will help us to define Bill-33 and give us some context around it.

What is Bill-33?

Bill 33 was put forth by the Ontario Minister of Education, Paul Calandra, on May 29, 2025. It is a bill that makes many amendments, but for our purposes, we will focus on the changes it would have on the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act.  

There are two primary areas that would be affected that are most relevant to students:

• It would give the government the ability to regulate fees that are charged to them, including auxiliary fees that fund student unions. Section 21.1  (1)

This means that student unions like IGNITE could lose a lot of funding, which automatically leads to big cuts in student services. The domino effect of this would be catastrophic to students who depend on these services.

• Admissions; colleges and universities would be forced to share their admissions procedures on merit, which could reduce diversity and make it harder for students to transfer or switch programs. Section 16.0.2 (2)

While on a surface level, this seems like a simple request for transparency, without a clear definition, it could reduce diversity and make it harder for students to transfer or switch programs. Colleges and universities need to have the ability to implement their own standards when it comes to who they admit to their programs without government interference.

Looking back

To understand the future, we must look to the past — 2019 to be exact. A similar policy was proposed by the government of Ontario called the Student Choice Initiative. It tried to make it so that post-secondary students could opt out of certain auxiliary fees that post-secondary institutions collected on behalf of student groups.

That proposal was challenged and struck down, as it was seen as an overreach by the government.

There are many similarities between Bill 33 and The Student Choice Initiative.

What we learned from that policy proposal is that allowing the Ontario government this overarching influence and power could create a dangerous precedent. This could eventually result in a ripple effect that would be felt deeply by student unions and the students they serve.

If auxiliary fees are deemed not critical, certain services might no longer exist. This would greatly restrict the ability of student unions to serve their own student body.

Why is any of this important to students?

We asked Olivia Villeneuve, College Student Alliance (CSA) Policy and Advocacy Lead, what the impact on students could potentially be if this bill is passed.

“Auxiliary fees are the lifeblood of student unions and eliminating or limiting them could result in critical services being eliminated,” Villeneuve said.

Villeneuve said that essential services provided by student unions could be cut.

“Mental health services and transit services are the primary ones, but everything from peer support groups, food banks, clubs, student events and other services, which student unions provide to fill the gap that colleges tend to miss, could be cut. This would be devastating for students and cripple student unions,” Villeneuve said.

She also added that students should be consulted on this bill since they are the main audience impacted by it.

“It impacts college students directly and it’s a policy, and a piece of legislation, that students will feel the impact of. No policy should be passed without a large input from the people it will impact. CSA has advocated for having students be consulted,” Villeneuve said.

We’re on your side

So where does that leave us?

The CSA, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) and Ontario Student Voices (OSV) have all united with the common interest of fighting this bill.

The primary purpose of this coalition is to work together to ensure that student voices are heard. They are calling for meaningful student consultation, careful review to protect essential student services and ensuring decisions are made with students’ needs being of paramount importance.

Villeneuve said that the coalition of CSA, CASA, OUSA and OSV is crucial because it is a collective power in shared information.

“This bill impacts all of us. As a coalition, we are stronger when we stand together. We have met with the minister’s office along with other advocacy groups and they have promised not to interfere with critical services,” Villeneuve said.

Igniting change

So what is IGNITE’s take on all of this?

We sat down with our very own IGNITE Board of Directors member and College Student Alliance Representative, Andrea Joy Deveraturda, to understand IGNITE’s perspective on this.

Deveraturda said if the bill passes, its long-term implications aren’t completely clear just yet. However, it’s important to maintain the independence of post-secondary institutions.

“This isn’t just about current Humber and UofGH students, it’s about the future of our schools. Giving the government this kind of leeway and power could really impact the next generation of students negatively,” Deveraturda said.

IGNITE is your on-the-ground advocacy group and CSA is our arm on provincial matters. You might be thinking, “OK, this all seems important, but what can I do in the face of government bureaucracy?

Fill out this Student Feedback on Ontario Bill 33. Your voice could be the difference between it passing or not.

Without a voice, we cannot influence change. Why not take a few minutes of your time and be heard?

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Do you want to know more about what’s at stake? Check out the rich history of your student union over the past 25 years!

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