Bargaining Updates:
CUPE 503 Members in the City of Ottawa Inside/Outside Collective Agreement:
Your CUPE 503 City of Ottawa Inside/Outside Bargaining Team returned to the bargaining table with the Employer on Monday, January 19th and has another date scheduled for this Friday, January 23rd 2026. The Employer has moved on many of the outstanding issues on the table and the 503 Bargaining Team will be tabling a counter proposal on Friday. Depending on how Friday’s bargaining date goes we will likely be scheduling a City of Ottawa Inside/Outside Bargaining Update Hybrid Meeting with the members of this Collective Agreement to provide a more detailed update. As was previously communicated, the Union did file a No Board with the Ministry of Labour in September to keep the process moving along and the Parties have agreed to an Arbitrator in the event we can not reach a tentative agreement for the members to vote on. The Arbitrator is well respected and experienced however with that comes limited availability of dates and October 6th 2026 will be the Interest Arbitration date if a tentative agreement can not be reached at the table.
Sandfield Place Long Term Care:
A second bargaining date was held on December 12th 2025 between the Parties and additional dates are required to address the new long-term care facility being opened by the Employer. To keep the process moving forward the Union did file for a No Board and the parties are very close to finalizing an Arbitrator and a scheduled date, however we do expect to schedule additional dates with the Employer to keep moving the process forward. On Monday, January 26th the union is hosting an online drop-in meeting for members between 2pm and 4pm to discuss the opening of the new LTC facility and the transition process for members. Details of how to join that Zoom meeting have been emailed to all Sandfield Place members that we have personal e-mail addresses for.
CUPE 503 Members at TD Place:
The Members Survey for your bargaining priorities closed on Friday, December 19th 2025 and your Bargaining Team met on Monday, January 19th to start drafting proposals for the package that will be presented to the members at the Review of Proposals Hybrid Members Meeting scheduled for Monday, February 9th between 6pm and 8pm. Details on how to join this meeting either in-person or online will be emailed to our members in this Collective Agreement. The Parties have bargaining dates scheduled with the Employer on February 11th, 12th and 13th and then additional dates March 4th, 5th and 6th 2026.
Forest Hill Long Term Care:
The Interest Arbitration date has been set for March 25th 2026 for a new Collective Agreement for Forest Hill members.
Embassy West Retirement Residence:
A third arbitration date was held on October 14th 2025 between the Parties, this concluded the presentations from the Union and the Employer. We are now awaiting an award to be received from the Arbitrator and this generally can take 2-3 months.
Ottawa Humane Society:
Notice to Bargaining has been received from the Employer for the Collective Agreement that expires March 31st 2026. The Union is starting to prepare for next steps that will include a survey for the members to complete and establishing a Bargaining Team for this round of negotiations. More details to come.
Save the Date:
Our Next Hybrid General Membership Meeting is Tuesday, February 17th 2026 at 7pm.
Your CUPE 503 Executive