By Mishael Taruc

Student groups, at and outside of Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) are worried Bill 33 may restrict student-led equity resources and the support they can provide to students.

“Our worries right now lie with how the bill could impact the sustainability of student services and the value they provide to the on-campus experience, whether that be for their health, wellbeing, or socialization,” said Sayak Sneddon-Ghosal, president of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA), in a statement to The Eyeopener. 

The Trans Collective is one of the equity service centres of the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU), according to the student union’s website. 

Jay Ashdown and Aisha Sharma, co-leads of the collective, said transgender students at TMU are looking for help with navigating the healthcare system, dealing with transphobia and finding community support with their service.  

However, Bill 33 or the Supporting Children and Students Act, which was passed on Nov. 20, 2025, can change this.

The TMSU announced last week it is reducing the annual base funding for campus groups and course unions from $1,500 to $600. Students are now required to apply for base funding.

Equity Support Centres do not fall under campus groups or course unions.

The legislation allows Ontario to regulate student fees and how these are used to fund student services. 

“It’ll take away a lot of autonomy from student unions,” said Ashdown. Provision 22.1 of Bill 33 allows the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario to “make regulations governing any fees” that a college or publicly-assisted university may require students to pay.

“It’ll take away a lot of autonomy from student unions”

Sharma emphasized the value of community among students from marginalized communities, describing how she found most of the information she needed about gender-affirming care through other trans people online.

“My only resource was calling insurance companies who didn’t know anything, being transferred from person to person or having to book appointments, waiting multiple days,” she said.

“The [province] can…fund universities instead of pushing the burden…onto students” 

While some student leaders continue to contest the bill, through interviews, The Eye found that many members of student groups are still in the dark about the potential impact of the legislation.

The OUSA calls for more funding for the post-secondary sector, said Sneddon-Ghosal.

More investments would ensure “institutions are well-funded to provide the high-quality education and support services that the province needs,” especially for students from marginalized communities, he said.

While it is still uncertain how the bill will be implemented and the regulations that may come from it are unknown, Sneddon-Ghosal said the student alliance will be submitting its recommendations to the province to ensure that student voices are represented.

Ashdown believes the provincial government should publicly fund universities, instead of pushing the burden of tuition onto students and parents.

This will “allow students to fund their autonomous bodies and universities to also fund their own services, which are helpful to students as well,” he said.

In 2024, the Ontario government announced its investment of almost $1.3 billion in new funding to “stabilize” universities and colleges over three years.

In 2022-23, Ontario had the lowest provincial funding for full-time university students among all provinces, compared to the national average of $16,756. 

This is according to a review of the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security spending plan as outlined in the 2025 Ontario Budget by the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario.

According to Statistics Canada data, in Ontario, student fees still compose a large part of universities’ revenues at 39.75 per cent, compared to provincial funding at 21.08 per cent in fiscal year 2023-24. Provincial funding was 34.40 per cent of the revenues for British Columbia universities during the same timeframe. 

In an interview with The Eye, university president Mohamed Lachemi, said the university is “actively engaged with the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security to understand the implications of Bill 33.”