Canadian Federation of Students

In March of 2004, graduate students at Brock voted to become members of the Canadian Federation of Students. In 2009-2010 full-time graduate students pay a fee of $7.32 per term, and part-time graduate students pay $3.66 per term. Below is information about CFS and the various services it provides, including the ISIC card, Travel Cuts travel agency, Student Saver Discount Card and more.

The Canadian Federation of Students was formed in 1981 to provide students with an effective and united voice, provincially and nationally. Students recognized that to be truly effective in representing their collective interests to the federal and provincial governments, it was vital to unite under one banner.

Today, the Federation is composed of 74 university and college students’ associations with a combined membership of more than 475,000 students.

Founding Principles

The Federation was founded with the following aims and objectives:

• To organise students on a democratic, co-operative basis in advancing our own interests and in advancing the interests of our community;
• To provide a common framework within which students can communicate, exchange information, and share experience, skill and ideas;
• To ensure the effective use and distribution of the resources of the student movement, while maintaining a balanced growth and development of student organizations that respond to students’ needs and desires;
• To bring students together to discuss and to achieve necessary educational, administrative or legislative change wherever decision-making affects students;
• To facilitate co-operation among students in organizing services that supplement our academic experience, provide for our human needs and which develop a sense of community with our peers and other members of society;
• To articulate the real desire of students to fulfill the duties, and be accorded the rights of citizens in our society and in the international community;
• To achieve our ultimate goal – a system of post-secondary education that is accessible to all, which is of high quality, which is nationally planned, which recognizes the legitimacy of student representation and the validity of student rights, and whose role in society is clearly recognized and appreciated.

Since its founding in 1981, the Federation has remained committed to these aims and objectives.

Road to Success

For a student organization to be successful at influencing government policy it must produce quality research, develop relationships with government, and demonstrate that there is public support for its issues.

Research: Thorough, accurate and in-depth research is required to support any proposal presented to government. The Canadian Federation of Students employs four full-time researchers across Canada who study and prepare analyses of government policies and trends within post-secondary education, and develop alternatives to government policy. The Federation’s work on discrediting the ten-year prohibition on student loan bankruptcies is recognized as having set the standard for research on the issue.

Lobbying: The Federation’s primary purpose is to represent students’ issues and concerns to government. Regular contact with elected and non-elected officials and bureaucrats is how the Canadian Federation of Students’ message is conveyed.

In Canada, most post-secondary education financing is provided by the federal government but is administered exclusively at the provincial level. Government policies and priorities determine the quality and accessibility of post-secondary education in Canada. Thus, the Federation employs a government relations strategy that targets both federal and provincial representatives.

Over the years, the Federation has become a strong presence on Parliament Hill and in provincial legislatures across Canada. Federation representatives meet regularly with federal Members of Parliament, other government officials, and representatives from all political parties in Ottawa and at the provincial level. In addition, the Federation is frequently invited to make presentations to government committees and task forces.

Action: Of course, regular meetings with government and the very best research will have little impact unless the government believes a message has widespread support. The Federation demonstrates this support through the active participation of its members in activities ranging from petition drives to mass mobilizations. These campaigns raise public awareness of the issues, and correspondingly affect the decisions and policies of government.

Strength in Numbers

No individual students’ association, no matter how big or active, has the resources or the political clout to effectively influence the post-secondary education policies of the provincial and federal governments on its own. At best, an individual students’ association could have an impact on only a few federal electoral ridings. Governments ignore groups that pose no political threat to them. It is also much more cost effective for a large number of students’ associations to pool their resources and work in partnership than for each to undertake this work on its own. The Federation serves this purpose, giving campus students’ associations across the country a united voice and powerful influence.

The Federation also enables students’ associations to collectively pool their resources to provide student owned and operated services such as Travel CUTS, the International Student Identity Card, the Studentsaver Card, Homes4students.ca, the Student Work Abroad Program (SWAP), and the National Student Health Network.

Democratic Decision-making

Each member students’ association has an equal say in setting the policies, direction and priorities of the Federation, including how funds are spent. All major decisions are made at provincial and national congresses at which every member students’ association is represented.

Travel CUTS

Travel CUTS (Canadian Universities Travel Service) is owned collectively by the member students’ unions that comprise the Federation. To ensure that the students on your campus know about Travel CUTS and its services, you are encouraged to include information about it in your handbook.

As Canada’s only national student travel agency, Canadian Universities Travel Service (Travel CUTS) serves over 300,000 students traveling domestically and abroad each year. Travel CUTS has close to 70 locations on or adjacent to campuses across Canada.

Student Owned and Operated

Travel CUTS is owned and operated by the Canadian Federation of Students-Services and is the largest travel agency in the world that is fully owned by a national student organization. Student ownership ensures that students’ interests are kept foremost in the operations and future developments of the company. Revenue generated by Travel CUTS is used to expand its services.

Services

Travel CUTS has developed a variety of student-oriented products and services such as student fares on airlines and trains, and student tour packages. Other services include:

• Bon Voyage Travel Insurance
• Hostelling International membership cards;
• Spring Break/Reading Week packages;
• Discounted Eurail passes; and
• The Student Traveller magazine.

Travel CUTS staff offer a wealth of information from years of service working in student travel.

International Representative of Students’ Interests

Through the International Student Travel Confederation, Travel CUTS is affiliated with over 600 student travel offices worldwide. This relationship allows Travel CUTS to negotiate and provide a worldwide network of student fares on air and surface transportation.

The International Student Identity Card (ISIC)

The ISIC is the internationally recognized proof of full-time student status, and is a student discount card in 70 countries, including Canada. Through its membership in the International Student Travel Confederation, the Canadian Federation of Students is the agent for the ISIC in Canada.

As a member of the Federation, the cost of your ISIC is included with GSA membership; non-members pay $16.00 for the card. CFS is invited on campus to process the cards at various times in September. If you missed them,  you can get an ISIC card through Travel CUTS locations; the closest being on MacMaster campus.  You can also get a ISIC card at kiosks in some VIA rail stations.  However, you will be charged a fee.

The card provides access to many benefits, including student discounts on domestic air travel purchased through Travel CUTS, a 30 - 50% discount on Via Rail travel and a 25% discount on Greyhound bus trips. As well, reduced rates can be obtained for accommodations, admission to historical sites and museums and entertainment attractions.

STUDENT PHONEs

StudentPhones.com is a mobile phone company that offers discounted mobile phone plans and accessories to students across Canada.  They offer discounts on both mobile phones plans, as well as handsets, that they have negotiated with major wireless providers in Canada.  They currently offer services of Fido Mobile, Rogers Wireless and Virgin Mobile.

Studentsaver Discount Card

The Studentsaver Card is Canada’s only student owned and operated national student discount program. With thousands of discounts across Canada, Studentsaver helps students save money on everyday purchases like books, clothing, food, and entertainment.

Each year, Federation members receive their Studentsaver Card through their local students’ association. Members simply take their card to any of the participating businesses to receive discounts on purchased goods and services. In addition to discounts, the card acts as a Federation membership card. Unlike the ISIC, the Studentsaver Card is available to part-time students.

Homes4students.ca

Homes4students.ca is the Federation’s national online housing database. With vacancy rates in many Canadian cities and towns being at an all-time low, it is difficult for many students to find affordable accommodation. At homes4students.ca, students can search for housing anywhere in the country quickly and efficiently.

Searching the site is free and students can search by city, type of accommodation, number of bedrooms and date available. Features such as wheelchair accessibility, laundry facilities, and parking can also be identified.

The homes4students.ca site now features more information about the accommodation including photos, a link to Mapquest.ca, provincial tenant/landlord legislation, sample leases and contact information for organizations working to protect tenants’ rights in each province. The site also includes “frequently asked questions” for students and tips on seeking accommodation and moving.

Student Work Abroad Program (SWAP)

Each year, thousands of Canadian students work in foreign countries through the Federation’s Student Work Abroad Program. Established in 1975 with a small exchange in New Zealand, SWAP is now Canada’s largest international exchange program.

SWAP provides students with the means to combine periods of employment with time for exploring their host countries. By living and working in another country, a SWAP participant has a greater opportunity to learn about the people, lifestyles, and cultures of the host country.

SWAP participants pay a registration fee and receive all necessary working papers, accommodation upon arrival, and other services. Most importantly, participants receive support from SWAP staff in Canada and abroad. Acting as a “safety net,” staff inform participants of the local job and accommodation market, and help participants with the transition to life in a foreign country.

National Student Health Network

Each year, the cost of prescription drugs and basic health and dental services, not covered by provincial health plans, take increasingly larger portions out of students’ limited budgets. To address this problem, the Federation created the National Student Health Network. Established more than fifteen years ago, the Federation assists students’ associations with the design, negotiation, promotion, and administration of campus health and dental plans.

In partnership with Canada’s only non-profit insurance provider, Greenshield, the Federation offers the most comprehensive set of benefits available through a campus health plan:

• Prescription drugs with or without a pay-direct drug card;
• Paramedical services: physiotherapist, speech pathologist, massage therapist, chiropractor, naturopath, and psychologist;
• Dental accident costs;
• Medical equipment/appliances;
• Accident or sickness related tutorial costs;
• Ambulance costs;
• Semi-private hospital rooms;
• Out of province emergency services;
• Accidental death and dismemberment insurance;
• Vision care/prescription glasses; and
• Managed dental care.

These benefits are available in component parts, which allow a students’ association the opportunity to design a customised plan for its members.

In addition, the Network offers assessments of members’ health and dental plans to determine if they are getting full value for their health and dental plans. Through these assessments it has become increasingly apparent that some health insurance agents are including charging students’ unions’ administrative fees in excess of industry-standards.

Visit our Health Plan page for more information on the Brock GSA Health & Dental Plan, which we subscribe to through the National Student Health Network.