On Sept. 15, as part of an outreach initiative, the Canadian Alliance for Student Associations (CASA) visited UW during the Campus Life Fair to hear student concerns and raise awareness of CASA’s work. Some of the key concerns were around difficulty finding co-op placements, especially in the summer, as well as the cost of living and finding housing.

“Mainly there was a big concern about job opportunities … and students in programs where they expected to actually find the internships quite easily, found that there was a lack of internship opportunities over the summer and that’s not just a Waterloo student issue,” said Mariam Trifess, communications and public relations officer for CASA. Waterloo students also expressed concern over the cost of living, and she noted that students were very attuned to the work being done on their behalf by WUSA, with some asking how they could get further involved in CASA. To these students, Trifess advised looking into running for office and becoming a CASA delegate.

WUSA joined CASA in March earlier this year to “focus more on federal advocacy and develop a strong voice at the federal level.” Trifess described several of CASA’s priorities for the upcoming year including addressing youth unemployment and scarce or expensive student housing, as well as increasing grad student funding.

She explained that in this year’s pre-budget submission to the Department of Finance, CASA asked to increase the annual number of positions in the Student Work Placement Program, which helps fund co-op positions, to 60,000, and mandate a minimum amount of work on federally funded projects to be done by apprentices. “Student unemployment is at the highest rate that it has been since the economic crisis that led to the Great Recession,” Trifess said.

In their pre-budget submission, CASA also asked to dedicate certain funding towards student residences and nonprofit student housing and has called on the House of Commons’ Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities to complete a study on youth unemployment.

While waiting on the release of the budget, expected to be on Nov. 4, CASA is also preparing for Advocacy Week, which Trifess said helps act as a response to the budget. “When the budget comes out, we’re going to react accordingly and if it’s positive … then we’ll have to keep continuing to push to keep those wins. And then if it’s negative, we’ll have to double up our efforts and advocacy to make the government reconsider.” Trifess said this approach has helped CASA achieve several victories in the past, like low cost loans provided to post-secondary institutions for student housing and the permanent removal of interest on the federal portion of student loans in the fall economic statement of 2022.