On September 22, the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) presented its 2025–2026 budget and announced a new partnership with U of T Food Coalition at the monthly Board of Directors (BOD) meeting. 

Budget

Vice President (VP) Finance Farshad Murtada and administrator Nusrat Huq delivered a presentation on the two-million-dollar 2025–2026 UTGSU budget, opening with, “it’s that time of the year again, where we do a deep dive into the madness known as the UTGSU budget.”

UTGSU revenue was previously listed as $20 million, $17.5 million of which came from Health and Dental Premiums. This year, Health and Dental Premiums are listed separately to better reflect the union’s revenue and expenses. 

Murtada noted several factors from the past year that impacted projections for 2025–2026, including the reopening of the Graduate Student Union Building, a full programming year with multiple active caucuses, a complete staff team, and an increase in grants and programming, such as the student conference bursary. 

In response to a question from Division Three Director Amir Mohammed Zadeh, Huq clarified that the 2024–2025 audit has not yet taken place and is scheduled for this October. 

U of T Food Coalition

An adopted motion allocated $14,000 in partnership with U of T Food Coalition to expand its meal program. UTGSU executives will prepare a memorandum of agreement with the Food Coalition before the next BOD meeting.

According to U of T Food Coalition representative and Geography and Planning PhD candidate Mike Lawler, the Food Coalition has served 1,400 free meals to students with an entirely volunteer-run staff. The coalition offers organizing and placement opportunities for students through programs such as the CSE342 — Theory and Praxis in Food Security course. The Free Meal program works closely with local grocers and independent businesses to support sustainable purchasing. 

In the five-year plan developed by coalition members, the program aims to offer a daily free lunch, build a commercial kitchen, and begin paying staff members.

Other business

David Kim, lecturer at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) and Hart House Warden, provided updates on the Hart House renewal project, highlighting the need for more efficient systems, updated technology and infrastructure, improved accessibility, and increased student awareness of the project. 

VP Dominic Shillingford confirmed that the UTGSU Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday, December 4, at 6:00 pm in the Multi-Faith Centre.