How Student Union Elections and Fee Referendums Work, and Why Your Vote Changes Your Bill
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 19, 2026 • Student Life, Canadian Universities & Colleges
Your student union runs its own elections and fee votes, and a yes in a referendum adds a new charge straight to your tuition invoice the next term.
📩 Executives run in campaigns supervised by a chief returning officer, with spending caps and rules set by the union's bylaws.
Fee referendums need a minimum turnout (quorum) and often a supermajority to pass.
A passed fee referendum goes to your university's board for approval, then appears as a new ancillary fee on your invoice.
National groups like CASA and the Canadian Federation of Students are federations of local unions, not your union itself.
💵 Joining or leaving a national federation runs as its own referendum, separate from your local union's executive election.
How executive elections run
Most Canadian student unions elect their executive, a president plus vice-presidents for areas like finance, academics or student life, through an annual campaign supervised by an independent chief returning officer (CRO). The CRO enforces nomination deadlines, campaign spending caps, rules on where candidates postering or advertise, and complaints from other candidates.
Voting normally runs online through the university's student portal over a few days, with results announced once the CRO confirms no violation affects the outcome. Elected executives typically serve one-year terms starting in the spring or summer before the academic year they represent.
How a fee referendum gets on the ballot
A referendum question, whether to create a new fee, raise an existing one, or leave a national student federation, reaches the ballot either through a vote of the union's council or through a student petition that collects signatures from a set percentage of the membership. The union's bylaws set that signature threshold and the notice period before the vote.
Referendums need a minimum turnout, called quorum, to count. Questions that change a fee level or federation membership often need a supermajority, commonly two-thirds, rather than a simple majority, since these decisions bind every student financially for years.
What happens after students vote yes
A passed fee referendum does not change your invoice by itself. The result goes to your students' union board, then to the university's board of governors or equivalent body for approval as an ancillary fee. Once approved, the registrar's office adds the new charge to your tuition invoice starting the term the referendum specified, usually the following fall.
The same path runs in reverse for a fee students vote to remove: the referendum result, then university approval, then the charge disappears from a future invoice, not the one already issued.
Where CASA and the Canadian Federation of Students fit in
The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) and the Canadian Federation of Students are national federations built from local union memberships, not organizations that run your campus election. Your local union's council or membership votes on whether to join, stay in or leave one of these federations, and that decision often runs as its own referendum with a fee attached, since federation membership carries annual per-student dues your union pays out of your fees.
CASA is a federation of member unions from campuses across Canada focused on federal advocacy work, while the Canadian Federation of Students runs as a larger membership body organized around one-union-one-vote general meetings. Joining or leaving either federation changes what shows up as a separate line on your fee invoice, distinct from your local union's own operating fee.
Common referendum questions students vote on
| Referendum type | What changes on your invoice |
|---|---|
| Health and dental plan fee | A new or adjusted annual premium charged to every student unless you opt out with proof of comparable coverage |
| Universal transit pass (U-Pass) | A flat transit fee added per term, often bundled so individual opt-outs are not available |
| Federation membership (CASA, CFS or a provincial equivalent) | Annual per-student dues added or removed as a separate line item |
| Capital or building fee | A fee tied to funding a specific student centre or facility project, often with a sunset date |
| General operating fee increase | A change to the base fee funding your union's day-to-day services and clubs |
Reading the fine print before you vote
Check whether the referendum fee has a sunset clause that ends it automatically after a set number of years, or whether it renews without another vote. Check whether the fee exempts students who study part-time or by distance, since many union bylaws exempt those students from fees like a U-Pass. Ask your union's CRO or governance office for the referendum's full text rather than relying on campaign summaries, since the ballot wording is what binds the union afterward.
Why your vote matters to your bill
Skipping your union's election or a fee referendum hands the decision to whichever students do show up, and that turnout sets levies you pay for the rest of your program. Read the referendum question text before you vote, since the wording states the exact dollar amount and whether the fee indexes to inflation in future years, details that matter more than the campaign material around the vote.
Beyond voting: how to shape the outcome
Running for a council or executive seat gives you a direct vote on whether a referendum question reaches the ballot in the first place, and most unions welcome first-time candidates alongside returning ones. Attending open council meetings, even without running, lets you speak to a motion before it becomes a referendum question, which changes the wording students eventually vote on.
If a fee referendum fails, your union typically brings a revised version back in a future election rather than abandoning the funding goal, so a no vote often reshapes a proposal rather than ending it. Track your union's council meeting minutes, usually posted publicly, to follow a fee proposal from its first reading through to the ballot.