As Canada’s largest labour federation, the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) fights for positive change in every area that affects people’s daily lives.
At the OFL, we know that a good, unionized job is the best way to provide a safe and stable life for Ontarians. We believe that true reconciliation must go beyond words and acknowledgements and move to action. This must involve work to support the education of Indigenous youth and to increase the representation of Indigenous people in the skilled workforce and the wider labour movement, including among union staff, activists and leaders.
To this end, the OFL First Nations, Métis, Inuit Circle / Union Savings Indigenous Bursary has been established to support Indigenous students to pursue post-secondary education, as a pathway to meaningful work, careers and activism in the labour movement.
The bursary has a value of $5,000 and will be offered for the first time in 2025 to a First Nation, Metis, or Inuit student who is:
• The child/family member of an affiliated union or local, or;
• Is a member in good standing of an affiliated union or local of the OFL, and;
• Has been accepted and is enrolled in any accredited college or university in Ontario, or;
• Has a signed apprenticeship
Please help us spread the word by sharing information about the new bursary with Indigenous members and contacts.
A shareable poster is attached here.
The OFL FNMI Circle will review all submissions and select the winner.
Please submit answers to the following questions, as well as proof of admission or letter of intent by Friday, July 13, 2025 at 11:59 PM to scholarships@ofl.ca.
*Submissions can be made in writing or by video.
Questions:
1. How did unions improve your life?
2. How AI might affect you, your job, your family?
3. Describe how your life has been positively impacted by your family’s involvement in a union.
4. Reflect on what you feel are the main societal issues that unions should be advocating for at this time.
5. As a child of unionized parents, how have union values and/or union organizing helped you overcome personal barriers related to your identity?
In solidarity,
Laura Walton
OFL PRESIDENT
The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is seeking nominations from affiliates, local unions, and labour councils for the SOLIDARITY & PRIDE CHAMPION AWARD.
This annual award is to acknowledge and celebrate individuals or groups who have made a significant or ongoing contribution to the advancement of the two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and additional sexually and gender diverse (2SLGBTQIA+) human rights, equity, and inclusion. We are seeking nominees who are leaders in advancing equity and quality of life for 2SLGBTQIA+ people in workplaces, communities, and globally.
The OFL encourages affiliates, local unions, and labour councils to view their nominees through an intersectional lens when making their selections. Affiliates are encouraged to nominate Pride activists who identify within equity seeking groups such as Indigenous, Black, racialized, and/or living with disabilities.
Solidarity & Pride Champion Award Nomination Form
Solidarity & Pride Champion Award Criteria
Please submit your nomination by completing the nomination form and submitting a letter of support explaining why the nominee is eligible based on the award criteria. Please include all the nominee’s contact information. All nominations must be made in writing and received at the Ontario Federation of Labour by August 31, 2025.
Selection: The OFL Solidarity and Pride Committee will review written nominations and make a recommendation to the OFL Officers and Executive Board.
For more information on the OFL SOLIDARITY & PRIDE CHAMPION AWARD, please contact Anne Marie Sutton via email at asutton@ofl.ca.
Yours in solidarity,
Laura Walton
OFL President
And
Susan Gapka Vice President, OFL Solidarity and Pride
We’re building the Ontario we need, where workers’ voices drive every decision. Tell us what you’re fighting for, and we’ll fight with you. Let’s win together.
Click the “Add Your Voice” tab to take the Ontario We Need Survey. Complete the survey to enter our prize draw. See contest rules and regulations below. If you’d like to access the survey in French, click here.
This is your labour movement, powered by over 1 million workers and 54 unions.
Today, we recognize and honour the leadership of Jagmeet Singh, a principled, relentless voice for Canada’s workers.
As Leader of the Federal NDP, Jagmeet Singh never wavered in his commitment to building a country where working people didn’t just survive, they thrive. From championing dental care to advancing the Pharmacare Act (Bill C-64), pushing through anti-scab legislation, and walking the picket line with workers, Jagmeet showed up.
He held those in power to account when they failed working people or turned a blind eye to oppression here at home and internationally. In moments of crisis – from a global pandemic to the affordability crisis to trade threats, Jagmeet has been a voice workers could count on. Jagmeet proved his solidarity isn’t just a word. It’s a practice. A commitment. Especially when other elected leaders saw it as an inconvenience.
At the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), we’ve had the honour of working alongside Jagmeet over the last decade at both the provincial and federal levels. He’s encouraged us in times of uncertainty to keep organizing and keep believing that a better country for working people is not just possible, but that the NDP is in the fight with us.
This may mark the end of his time as party leader, but it’s nowhere near the end of his fight. Jagmeet was an activist long before Parliament, and we know he’ll continue to join workers shoulder to shoulder on picket lines, and on the ground in our communities.
Thank you, Jagmeet, for your courage, your clarity, and your unwavering belief in the power of working people. The labour movement is stronger because of you.
COPE 343
The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) mourns the devastating and horrific attack at the Lapu-Lapu Day Filipino community street festival in Vancouver. We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the 11 people killed, and to the entire Filipino community in Ontario, across Canada, and around the world.
What was meant to be a joyful celebration of culture, resistance, and community became one of the darkest days in Vancouver’s history.
This tragedy is not an isolated event. Similar horrors have struck communities across Canada before. Each one is a painful reminder of what happens when public services and public health care, including mental health supports are gutted.
We join the Filipino community’s call for a full and transparent investigation. The community deserves answers. They deserve accountability. They deserve justice. This tragedy also reinforces the urgent need to invest in publicly funded, publicly delivered mental health services, services that are accessible, culturally safe, and grounded in the realities of the communities they’re meant to support.
We need real, preventative solutions. Mental health services must be accessible before tragedy strikes and strong enough to support grieving families and communities when it does.
We will continue to listen and amplify the Filipino community’s calls and keep fighting for the public services that protect lives before it’s too late.
In grief and in solidarity,
Ontario Federation of Labour
Cope343
Today, on the National Day of Mourning, we gather in solitude, in grief, and in solidarity to remember every worker who has been killed, injured, or made ill on the job. We honour their memory and join families, coworkers, and communities left carrying the weight of this loss.
At the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), we refuse to let the deaths and suffering of workers be met with silence. We demand accountability, not only for past tragedies, but for the workers who continue to face unsafe, hazardous conditions every day.
This year marks the 21st anniversary of the Westray Law, intended to hold employers criminally responsible for workplace deaths caused by negligence. Yet the law remains underused. That’s why the OFL’s 15-year “Kill a Worker, Go to Jail” campaign calls for criminal investigations into every workplace death. Accountability is not optional, and justice delayed is justice denied.
In 2023, more than 1,000 workers in Canada lost their lives due to their unsafe job. Over 274,000 more were injured or became ill, and many more cases remain unreported. This is a crisis. Every worker deserves to come home safe. Every workplace must be free from preventable harm.
We call on all levels of government to take urgent action to protect workers by:
April 28 is a day of remembrance, but also of recommitment. At the OFL, we will not stop fighting for a future where no worker dies on the job. We will continue to hold employers and governments accountable, until every workplace is safe, and every worker is protected.
COPE 343
