By Molly Simpson

Students at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) have a number of sexual health resources on campus, both run by the university as well as funded through the fees paid to the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU). But some student groups and services say access to these resources might soon become a lot more difficult.

Although many possible impacts of the controversial Bill 33 are yet to be determined, organizations that receive funding from student unions have expressed concerns surrounding what potential funding cuts brought by the bill could mean for students, including those who rely on sexual health and sexual assault support services.

Bill 33, the “Supporting Children and Students Act,” became law on Nov. 20, 2025. The act allows the Ontario government to regulate the ancillary fees postsecondary institutions require students to pay on top of their tuition—the fees that fund many student groups and services—as previously reported by The Eyeopener. 

Cyrielle Ngeleka, chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario, said Bill 33 is an attack on the entirety of the education sector.

“Ancillary fees are the fees that essentially fund life giving services on our campuses…think about printing, sexual violence centres, think about food centres,” said Ngeleka.

With the looming threat of funding cuts, the services and resources that rely on them are preparing to pivot the extent of their outreach. 

Yumna Hussain is the coordinator for the Centre for Safer Sex and Sexual Violence Support (C3SVS) at TSMU. Hussain spoke to The Eye about the services they provide, which include three avenues for supporting students: safer sex, menstruation and reproductive health and sexual violence support.

C3SVS’ safer sex services support education, advocacy and consent on campus, according to their website. Free menstrual products and other reproductive healthcare items can be ordered online and picked up at C3SVS’ location on the second floor of the Student Campus Centre (SCC). The centre also offers one-on-one sessions for students who require sexual violence support as well as a support line and is also partnered with the local Toronto Rape Crisis Centre.

Funded by a separate student levy, the C3SVS does not rely on funds from the TMSU which means that their services are not as imminently impacted by Bill 33 as associations which are fully funded by the union. 

However, this doesn’t mean there are no concerns around what a potential funding cut could look like. 

“At the end of the day, that is still students’ money,” said Hussain. “We’re hoping that [Bill 33] doesn’t affect the student levy as much because that is the majority of what [the C3SVS] leans on. It does help in some circumstances to kind of have that backup.”

As a non-profit organization, the C3SVS has a network of partner non-profits it can lean on and vice-versa, according to Hussain. This provides the centre with ways to get necessities like educational workshops and resources, which she says offers “a little bit of hope for us in case of any fears that we have.”

The C3SVS isn’t the only group on campus concerned. The TMSU’s equity centres—like the Trans Collective—have also been preparing for potential fallout from the act, as previously reported by The Eye. 

Hussain says the C3SVS often donates safe sex products like condoms or menstrual products to the school, to be placed around campus. The funding impacts of Bill 33 could change the range in which the C3SVS can provide these products. “Our priority is always going to be the students…getting their products, and that mostly happens through the [TMSU],” she said.

Hussain mentioned that the C3SVS would have to pull back on donations to the school in favour of supplying students through their own office in the SCC. In the past, the organization has provided free products to be used in bathrooms on campus  and has also provided products to student groups upon request.

While the effects of Bill 33 are only hypothetical right now, the C3SVS has recently experienced other external funding cuts, giving them a taste of what Bill 33 might bring. A federally-funded program at St. Michael’s Hospital previously offered free HIV self tests for at-risk youth. Yumna said the C3SVS had received tests through the program and began giving them out to students, “however, within the year, that program ran out of funding.”

While the C3SVS still offers the self tests, Hussain said they are an expensive item. 

Sadie Locke, a fourth-year occupational health and safety student at TMU has accessed free menstrual products provided by the C3SVS. She said there’s a necessity to have these products be accessible and affordable. 

“Sometimes…you’re deciding between rent, food and menstruation, and you shouldn’t have to choose the third option because that’s just a bodily function. It’s like if you charged someone every time they farted.” 

Locke said having resources available on campus reduces the need to go into the city to find something comparable, especially as an out-of-province student. “I wouldn’t know where any of the Ontario resources would be and it can also be scarier…having something traumatic happen to you and then going off campus somewhere else to tell somebody.”

Understanding the importance of these services, Locke is willing to pay more in tuition if it means providing funding for these programs. “I may not be in a dire situation, but there are thousands of students at this school and you never know what can happen,” she said.

Ngeleka said sexual violence centres and adjacent resources are already underfunded by the government. “With Bill 33 passing, folks can only expect that this process accelerates,” she said.