Classes could resume two days after back-to-work bill passes, colleges say

TORONTO -- Ontario's colleges say once back-to-work legislation to end a faculty strike is passed, classes could resume two days later.

The provincial government is set to table the legislation today, after an attempt to do so Thursday evening was blocked by the NDP.

Around 500,000 students have been out of class since the strike by 12,000 professors, instructors, counsellors, and librarians began Oct. 15.

After the bill is introduced today, it will likely be debated through the weekend.

It could pass immediately today with unanimous consent of all three parties in the legislature, but the NDP say they will force debate.

Don Sinclair, the CEO of the College Employer Council, says one day after the legislation passes faculty will return to the colleges to prepare for students to return the day after.

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  Teachers and faculty staff of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union walk the picket line at George Brown College in Toronto on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017. (Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS)