USask student lobbying secures $15 million

Lobbying is a funny thing, especially for student unions. While we know student unions lobby government, we can never tell if their lobbying is succeeding or if government actions on the post-secondary file would occur regardless of that lobbying.

There are rarely instances where it is absolutely clear that student union lobbying is the reason an issue is addressed by government.

The announcement of $15 million in new funding for student housing at the University of Saskatchewan is one of these cases.

Two years ago, housing wasn’t on the political radar in the province. Sure, there was a housing crisis but it wasn’t making headlines and it was being treated as a normal yearly occurrence—much like complaints about tuition.

The University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union decided to make it an issue and rallied public attention to the cause. They lobbied politicians and sold them on the need for action to help address the student housing crisis in Saskatoon.

The result: rare government funding of a student residence building.

Well done.