After years of attempting to get a comprehensive picture of the use of contract faculty in Canadian universities, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has published its ground-breaking report, Contract U: Contract faculty appointments at Canadian universities.
Achieved through FIPPA reqests to all 78 publically-funded Canadian universities, the report confirms what many of us have known for quite some time – that, in the words of co-author of the report Chandra Pasma, “significant reliance on contract faculty in Canadian universities is a structural issue, not a temporary approach to hiring”.
According to the report, part-time work accounted for an astounding nearly 80% of all faculty contract appointments in 2016-2017. Even more disquieting was data that suggested that some universities are moving perilously close to the dangerous precedents being set by our neighbours to the south — in thirteen Canadian universities, contract appointments account for more than two-thirds of all faculty appointments at their institutions.