Students face class disruptions due to labour disputes at three Halifax universities

Dalhousie University says it won’t be offering tuition refunds to students who were impacted by the month-long lockout.

HALIFAX — Thousands of university students in Halifax face potential class disruptions as part-time faculty at three schools remain locked in separate contract disputes.

The labour strife comes on the heels of a lockout involving full-time faculty at Dalhousie University that delayed the start to fall classes before the union reached a deal with the administration.

Part-time faculty at Saint Mary’s University, Mount Saint Vincent University, and Dalhousie are in various stages of contract negotiations.

The union for part-time faculty at Saint Mary’s ended conciliation talks with the university on Monday, and is expected to provide updates today on next steps.

Staff at Mount Saint Vincent will vote later this week on whether to strike, and staff at Dalhousie are scheduled for conciliation talks at the beginning of October.

The Saint Mary’s union estimates that part-time faculty, who recently voted with an 87 per cent majority for a strike mandate, teach roughly one-third of all classes at the university.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept 23. 2025

The Canadian Press