ÐӰɵ¼º½

The memo below was sent to all Dalhousie faculty and staff.

July update: Budget, enrolment, bargaining

Memorandum to faculty and staff from:

• Wanda M. Costen, PhD, Provost and Vice-President Academic
• Gitta Kulczycki, Vice-President Finance and Administration
• Grace Jefferies-Aldridge, Vice-President People and Culture

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Following our last message on our budget and financial situation (June 26), it was our hope to not require another update until the fall. We feel it is important, however, to provide our Dal community with a sense of how things have shifted over the past few weeks in terms of budget, enrolment, and bargaining with the Dalhousie Faculty Association (DFA).

Measures to address our financial situation

As we have shared throughout this budget cycle, Dalhousie has a mandate to reduce expenses by at least $75 million by the end of fiscal 2027-28. This requires a dramatic change in how we approach our work and priorities — truly, this is the most significant financial challenge Dalhousie has faced in decades. The status quo is not an option — we need to change how we do things.

We appreciate that, in the past, Dal’s care and caution in budget planning has at times resulted in a modest surplus, and there may be the same expectation this year. To be clear: enrolment is not going to solve our budget challenge this year, or anytime soon. The gap remains significant (current projections are $8-10M short, in addition to the $20.6M budgeted shortfall in 2025-26) and despite our best efforts, enrolment numbers are not going to be where we need them to be to meet our budget mandate. These lower enrolment numbers will only increase the urgency with which we must reduce costs.

Faculties and Units are being asked to sharpen their focus and find operational efficiencies. In addition to the restrictions on hiring, layoffs are occurring across Dalhousie campuses and among all employee groups, including senior leadership. Where possible, employees who retire or resign are not being replaced and we were not in a position to renew many of our limited-term faculty.

This is the difficulty of finding a financial path forward when employee compensation comprises nearly 72% of our operating expenses. We expect more difficult decisions in the coming months and years. Looking ahead, we know Dalhousie’s workforce will look different than it does now. 

Negotiations with the DFA

These realities inform collective bargaining with the Dalhousie Faculty Association (DFA). Talks have reached an impasse and the parties remain quite far apart.

The primary unresolved issue is compensation. The Board’s proposal is for increases of 2%/2%/2% across the three years of the agreement. In addition to this 2%, eligible faculty would also receive the annual Career Development Increment (CDI) and any promotion adjustments. In addition to other collective agreement proposals that would require substantial financial support, the DFA is tabling 7%/4%/4% plus the standard CDI increment and promotion adjustments. The financial gap between these two proposals is vast. Given the scope of the budget challenge we are facing, the DFA proposal is more than Dalhousie can afford.

The Board is committed to a fair deal for DFA members that takes into consideration the significant financial challenges we are working to resolve in a way that minimizes the effect on current employees. There are limits to what we can offer in our current financial situation without threatening critical programs, services, and supports — not just for our students, but for faculty as well, whether it’s IT, research support, classroom and lab space investments, or so many other aspects of how we support academic work. We wish the circumstances were different, and we know everyone in our Dal community feels the same way. Our faculty are the stewards of our academic mission and we want to recognize the hard work faculty colleagues undertake while maintaining as robust a faculty and staff complement as possible to deliver on the academic mission.

What’s next

We remain hopeful an agreement with the DFA can be reached, and the negotiating teams are expected to meet with the conciliator at least once more before any action is taken. That said, if the parties are not able to reach a deal, there could be a labour disruption as early as mid-August — and we have to begin planning for this possibility.

You can expect to hear more in the coming weeks about preparations in the event of a strike or lockout, including implications for the start of the fall term, access to campus, research, and other areas of our operations. We will begin sharing some high-level FAQs  this week, with more to come.

We know conversations about a potential labour disruption cause stress and worry for many. Please keep in mind that our preparations do not mean a labour disruption is inevitable or unavoidable — we will continue to do what we can to support reaching an agreement at the table.

For the latest information, please continue to  and watch for further updates in your email and other university channels.

Respectfully,

Wanda M. Costen, PhD, Provost and Vice-President Academic

Gitta Kulczycki, Vice-President Finance and Administration

Grace Jefferies-Aldridge, Vice-President People and Culture

ÐӰɵ¼º½ operates in the unceded territories of the Mi’kmaw, Wolastoqey, and Peskotomuhkati Peoples. These sovereign nations hold inherent rights as the original peoples of these lands, and we each carry collective obligations under the Peace and Friendship Treaties. Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 recognizes and affirms Aboriginal and Treaty rights in Canada.

We recognize that African Nova Scotians are a distinct people whose histories, legacies and contributions have enriched that part of Mi'kma'ki known as Nova Scotia for over 400 years.