The People’s Universitymade by Alpha

What we’ve lost

The stuff that used to be yours.

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The receipts

The Mezz isn’t a one-off.

Spaces, services, teachers, hours. One decision at a time, never with students in the room.

  • 2002

    Activist groups banned from Hall’s first two floors

    The Board of Governors banned activist groups from activities on the Hall Building’s first two floors. Tabling was forbidden.1

  • 2006

    The Mezz almost became a lounge

    The administration tried to turn it into a lounge with two days’ notice. Students pushed back.2

  • Once upon a time

    The Hall Building cafeteria

    The 7th floor of Hall used to have a cafeteria. Today the room’s official name is literally “Former Cafeteria” (H-718).3

    When and why it closed? We’re still digging.

  • Pandemic years

    Pay to use your own campus

    Concordia started charging “hospitality fees” to rent campus space for student events, which used to be free, and dropped pass/fail without consulting students.4

  • Winter 2024

    Fewer course sections

    Arts & Science was told to cut course sections by about 10%, a faculty member told The Link.5

    “All these classes I need to graduate are full.” (ASFA’s Angelica Antonakopoulos)6

  • Feb 2025

    The CSU locked out of every room

    Concordia suspended the student union’s right to book any space on campus and cancelled its bookings. The CSU had to go to court.7

  • Nov 2025

    63 teachers, not renewed

    Concordia decided not to renew its limited-term teaching contracts. Savings: about $1 million, it says.8

    One classics professor says she and another of those teachers taught 42% of the program’s courses.8

  • Jan 2026

    Grey Nuns Reading Room: no more late nights

    Evenings and weekends, gone.9 No more locking in for your exams.

  • Every year

    Grey Nuns residence food

    First-years in residence must buy a meal plan, and the Grey Nuns dining hall is run by Aramark, a giant food corporation. Residents have reported undercooked chicken and mouldy bread. A student food group says its local alternative was turned down.10

    Not exactly home cooking.

  • Aug 2026

    The Mezz

    You know this one.11

  • Oct 2026

    Keep tabling, lose your rooms

    The Dean of Students emailed the CSU threatening to ban it from booking space on campus if it kept tabling on the Mezz. Per the CSU, that could hit every group under it, clubs included.12

We’re still digging. More coming.

The shuttle

7:30 a.m.–11 p.m.→9:15 a.m.–6:30 p.m.

Monday to Thursday, before and after the 2024 cut.2021

Hours the shuttle runs, Monday to Thursday

First bus to last bus, from Concordia’s own schedules.21

0h4h8h12h16h2014201620182020202220242026 15¾ h9¼ h

About 6½ hours of service a day, gone. No shuttle before 9:15 a.m. or after 6:30 p.m., Monday to Thursday.

See the numbers
TermFirst to last busHours
Fall 20137:45 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.15.25 h
Winter 20157:45 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.15.25 h
Fall 20177:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.15.5 h
Winter 20187:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.15.5 h
Fall 20227:30 a.m. to 11:05 p.m.15.6 h
Winter 20237:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.15.5 h
Winter 20247:20 a.m. to 11:05 p.m.15.75 h
Winter 20259:15 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.9.25 h
Winter 20269:15 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.9.25 h

Got class at Loyola? Night class downtown?

Too bad. There’s no shuttle around.

Your options:

  • Pay for the STMA monthly OPUS pass is $60.20
  • Pay for an UberEvery time.
  • Rent a BIXIAnd take your chances with Montreal drivers. In winter.
  • Ride home alone after dark“It makes me feel really unsafe using transit late at night, after my classes, alone.” (student, shuttle survey)22
1,090students answered ASFA’s shuttle survey.22
59%said the cut hurt their grades or studies. Some said a 30-minute trip now takes up to 2 hours.22
$350KWhat Concordia expects to save over two years.23

Put together

One step at a time

The steps are documented. The two paths ahead are an illustration, not a forecast.

2024Shuttle hourscut ~40% Nov 202563 teachersnot renewed Jan 2026Grey Nuns:no nights Aug 2026Mezz tablesgone today Student Voice Standardnotice, evidence, a real say Decisions without students Next, per Concordia’s own budgetdocuments: shorter service hours,“optimized” space, selling buildings

Sources: shuttle21, teachers8, Grey Nuns9, Mezz11, what’s under consideration24.

Where it goes next depends on one thing:

Whether students get a say.

What this means for you

This was never about four tables.

It’s about who gets asked.

One decision without students is a mistake.

If nobody pushes back, it becomes the rule.

What’s coming, in Concordia’s own words

“Every sector will implement a six per cent cut to their operating budgets this year.”25

“Layoffs are expected to be necessary to meet our financial obligations.”25

Also listed as under consideration: shorter service hours, “optimizing” space, and selling surplus real estate.24

Your study spaces. Your services. Your professors.

The cuts are coming. Concordia says so.

Will you get a say, or get told after?

Sources

  1. Iness Rifay, “50 years of Concordia student activism: a timeline,” The Link, Sept. 5, 2023 (1981 divestment, 2002 Hall Building ban, 2012 strikes). thelinknewspaper.ca
  2. “Concordia ‘evicting’ students from mezzanine,” The Link archives (events of 2006). thelinknewspaper.ca
  3. Concordia Student Union, “Former Cafeteria” (H-718, Hall Building 7th floor), CSU Spaces. csu.qc.ca
  4. “Students ‘literally shaking with rage’ over university’s negligence at CSU’s emergency consultation,” The Link (pandemic-era return to campus; pass/fail removed without consultation; hospitality fees for renting space introduced in September). thelinknewspaper.ca
  5. Megan Mills Devoe, “Course cuts disrupt academic life,” The Link, Jan. 30, 2024 (10% section cut per a faculty member speaking anonymously). thelinknewspaper.ca
  6. Elysa Barret Thys, “Budget cuts and austerity measures disturbing academic life,” The Link, Mar. 4, 2025. thelinknewspaper.ca
  7. Hannah Scott-Talib, “Concordia allows CSU to book spaces on campus for elections,” The Link / QCNA, Apr. 1, 2025 (the CSU asked the Superior Court to suspend the decision by Dr. Anne Whitelaw and Dr. Michael Di Grappa); “CSU sends Concordia a cease and desist,” Feb. 26, 2025. qcna.qc.ca · qcna.qc.ca
  8. India Das-Brown, “Concordia draws outcry over decision to cut limited-term teaching positions,” The Link, Nov. 10, 2025 (63 LTA faculty; about $1 million saved, per Concordia; classics figure per instructor). thelinknewspaper.ca
  9. “No more late nights at the Grey Nuns Reading Room,” The Link, Jan. 13, 2026. thelinknewspaper.ca
  10. Olivia Integlia, “Concordia renews contract with notorious prison food provider,” The Link, June 1, 2022 (Aramark contract; a student food group says its local alternative was rejected). thelinknewspaper.ca · Concordia Food Services, meal plans (mandatory for first-year students in residence). campusdish.com
  11. Sabina Bellisario Giglio, “Tabling at the Hall Building mezzanine banned by Concordia,” The Concordian, Sept. 22, 2026. theconcordian.com
  12. Concordia Student Union and CSU Campaigns, “Statement on the Protests in the Hall Mezzanine,” Instagram (@csumtl, @csu_campaigns), November 2026: “On October 30th, the CSU received an email from the Dean of Students about its unsanctioned usage of the Hall Mezzanine. The email threatened to prohibit the CSU from booking space on campus if we continued to table without permission… it was suggested that this could impact all groups under the CSU, including clubs.” Katie Broad is Concordia’s Dean of Students (see her team page). instagram.com/csumtl
  13. Laura Beeston, “Where’s the Student Space?” The Link, Sept. 6, 2011. thelinknewspaper.ca
  14. Franca G. Mignacca, “Café X Announces Closure of Last Location,” The Link, Jan. 17, 2018. thelinknewspaper.ca
  15. “Loyola’s long-running café closes its doors,” The Concordian, October 2018. theconcordian.com
  16. Autumn Darey, “Concordia to Repossess Downtown Daycare,” The Link, Nov. 22, 2022. thelinknewspaper.ca
  17. Robert Toto, “Closure of Z Annex causes adjustments to Multi-faith and Spirituality Centre,” The Link, Jan. 28, 2025. thelinknewspaper.ca
  18. Nathalie Bucur, “Farewell to Mackay St.’s R-R Annex,” The Link, Sept. 8, 2026. thelinknewspaper.ca
  19. Alexander Perez, “CSU Supports MSA’s Bid to Keep Their Space,” The Link, Feb. 10, 2017; The Concordian update: the university said it would not build the wall. thelinknewspaper.ca · theconcordian.com
  20. Zachary Cheung and Amalia Lemesianou, “Shuttle bus cuts are draining student wallets,” The Link, Sept. 24, 2024 (monthly OPUS pass $60). thelinknewspaper.ca
  21. Concordia shuttle schedules, Fall 2013 to Winter 2026 (Mon to Thu: 7:20 a.m. to 11:05 p.m. in Winter 2024; 9:15 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Winter 2025 and 2026).
  22. ASFA, Shuttle Usage Survey Results, November 2024, published by the CSU. 1,090 students answered; it was open to anyone, most were in Arts & Science, and Concordia questioned its method. csu.qc.ca
  23. Hannah Scott-Talib, “Concordia students share shuttle bus concerns at CSU town hall,” The Link, Sept. 26, 2025 (about $350,000 saved over two years, per Concordia spokesperson Julie Fortier). thelinknewspaper.ca
  24. Concordia University, “Fall update on Concordia’s budget,” Nov. 4, 2025. concordia.ca
  25. Graham Carr, “We have another challenging year in front of us,” Concordia University, May 20, 2026. concordia.ca