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 Friday, January 23rd 2026. During that date your Team responded to the Employers package with a counter offer. The Employer did not respond by the end of the day and communicated to the Bargaining Team they would continue work on their response and would provide it the week of February 2nd. That week ended without a package being provided to the 503 Team. Over the last 6 weeks President James Watson has followed up with the City’s Lead Negotiator weekly regarding their response package and has been informed they continue to work on a response. Your Bargaining Team is focused on negotiating the best possible deal that is achievable this round of negotiations. While this timeline is taking longer than expected the goal is to not leave anything on the table when it comes to gains for our members. Your Team knows what has been achieved when it comes to monetary gains in other Ontario CUPE Municipal Collective Agreements that have been freely negotiated across the province and so far the Employer’s offers are not reaching that bar. As was previously communicated, the Union did file a No Board with the Ministry of Labour in September 2025 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. Your Bargaining Team is ready to bargain and will provide an update when the Employer provides their counter offer.
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 have agreed to October 26th 2026 as an Interest Arbitration date and your Bargaining Team remains ready to return to the table to continue negotiations. The Union has also commenced the legal process with the Ministry of Labour regarding representation rights for the new Long Term Care facility the Employer is opening. We will be hosting a meeting for Sandfield Place members to discuss the next steps in this process.
CUPE 503 Members at TD Place:
On March 6th 2026 your Bargaining Team reached a Tentative Agreement with the Employer. Details of the Tentative Agreement will be distributed to the members by e-mail as well as a Canada Post mailing on Tuesday, March 24th 2026. We will be hosting a Review of the Tentative Agreement Meeting for TD Place members on Thursday, April 2nd between 2pm and 6pm at TD Place in the Lansdowne Lounge where your Bargaining Team will review the Tentative Agreement and be able to respond to any questions members have. Ballots for the Ratification Vote will be due back to the CUPE 503 Office in the postage paid return envelope provided in the Canada Post mailing by Wednesday, April 15th at Noon when the count will take place. We will send out a series of communications to TD Place members during this Ratification Vote process to ensure all members are informed and reminded of the timeline.
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 have not yet received an Interest Arbitration Award from the Arbitrator and this timeline is exceeding the usual timeline of within 3 months. We followed up through our legal and appointed Nominee for the Interest Arbitration and have been informed the Award is expected in the coming weeks.
Ottawa Humane Society:
Notice to Bargain 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.
CUPE 503 Executive Board & Council Elections
During the March 2026 General Membership Meeting held March 17th 2026 President James Watson announced the CUPE 503 Executive Board and Council Elections will be held May 20th 2026. The General Membership Meeting attendees approved the appointment of the Elections Committee and further communications about the tmeline for the election process as per the CUPE 503 Bylaws will be forthcoming to the membership once finalized by the Elections Committee.
CUPE Ontario OMERS Campaign – We Pay! We Want a Say!
For our CUPE 503 members in the OMERS Pension Plan:
CUPE Ontario has launched a campaign to show OMERS and the Government of Ontario that members demand accountability, transparency, and a strong voice at the table, to bargain how their pension is governed.
Your pension at risk: $142.4 billion money grab affecting almost 650,000 Workers
The Ford government has taken over OMERS by granting the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing direct control over your pension fund, contrary to recommendations made by their own experts in a recent review.
This has been tried before. It didn’t work then, and it won’t now.
No other jointly sponsored pension plan in Canada is subject to this level of political interference. OMERS manages over $142.4 billion in assets, and the province’s money grab will affect more than 650,000 Ontario workers.
This is a BIG deal, and we need your help to stop it. If you care about your retirement, please add your voice to this petition.
Visit https://cupe.on.ca/wepaywewantasay/ to sign the Petition and get more informed about the campaign.
Save the Date:
Our Next Hybrid General Membership Meeting is Tuesday, April 21st 2026 at 7pm.
The CUPE 503 Golf Tournament is scheduled for Thursday, August 13th with a shotgun start at 1pm at Manderley on the Green. Registration will open Monday, July 13th at 9am at the CUPE 503 Office.
Your CUPE 503 Executive