Where Your GSA Fees Go And What They Make Possible
Every enrolled graduate student at Laurier pays GSA related student fees each semester. Those fees directly support the work we do to support and improve graduate life at Laurier.
As a student-led association, we are committed to open reporting, purposeful spending, and visible accountability. And beyond our own transparency commitments, we are actively using our voice at Laurier tables to call for greater transparency across all university-collected fees, not just those paid to the GSA.
What is the total and where else do we get money from?
For 2025–2026, we estimate receiving $653,238 to support the graduate student experience.
This funding comes from:
GSA specific student fees (collected in Fall, Winter, Spring)
Your fees each semester for 2025-2026 are:
Graduate Students’ Association Fee Full-time Student $56.66 Part-time Student $28.33
Graduate Students’ Association Technology & Infrastructure Fee Full-time Student $10.50 Part-time student $5.25
General support through the Comprehensive Student Services Fee
Orientation specific support through the Comprehensive Student Services Fee
Together, these funds ensure that essential support for graduate students remains accessible, reliable, and sustainable.
On January 15th, 2026 our Board of Directors approved a 2.2% (CPI matched rate) increase to our fees starting Fall semester 2026.
How do we use these funds to support the graduate student experience?
Most of your fees support the people who support you. We are a student-led and professionally supported not-for-profit organization. Our team includes:
elected student leaders
hired graduate student leaders
graduate student employees
full-time staff supporting advocacy, services & operations
staff at Veritas Café
Together, we run programs, advocate for students, support services, operate Veritas, build community, solve problems, and represent graduate students across campus. This partnership is intentional: student leaders set the priorities (hard link to strategic plan and annual plan), and professional staff ensure those priorities are achievable and executed effectively. To learn more about our elected Board of Directors and their work (link to Board information on the website)
We look at our planned expenses through a student impact lens rather than a financial one:
Our expenses are planned with student impact as the priority. We only move forward with costs that clearly support positive outcomes for students.
~91% of GSA spending supports the people who deliver programming, services, advocacy, and community-building for graduate students. This “people investment” is what allows us to respond quickly when students need help, and to ensure your voice is at the centre of every decision that affects graduate education at Laurier.
Within that 91%:
~40% funds leadership positions held by Laurier graduate students
Our Faculty Representatives keep us grounded in what graduate students are experiencing right now. Their work includes:
Outreach and connection-building within each faculty
Identifying emerging barriers (supervision, funding, workloads, international student concerns, etc.)
Bringing student issues to the GSA early so we can help
Promoting graduate student events
Representing their faculty at GSA and university-level meetings
Ensuring that student needs directly shape GSA priorities
Our Research team help inform how we plan, advocate, and make decisions by:
Supporting major research projects
Collecting, analyzing, and presenting student data
Writing reports and briefings that influence university and government conversations
Translating student feedback into practical next steps
Together, student leaders help us see the full picture of what graduate students need and where the university must improve. Your fees ensure that the collective graduate student voice is at the table, not on the sidelines.
~60% funds the full-time staff, student staff, and Veritas Café staff who carry out the day-to-day work of service delivery and student support. We strive to have our compensation align with the University where possible.
Our professional staff ensure that student priorities become real, tangible support.
Advocacy & University Relations
Preparing briefings, proposals, and reports for committees
Meeting consistently with university partners to raise concerns and negotiate solutions
Advocating for graduate student needs during campus-wide planning and policy changes
Student Support & Crisis Navigation
Responding to urgent, complex student situations
Coordinating support when students face academic disruptions, funding gaps, workplace issues, or personal crises
Providing confidential, trauma-informed guidance and connecting students with campus supports
Following cases through to resolution to ensure the student doesn’t fall through the cracks
Food Security & Affordability Initiatives
Operating Veritas Café with a focus on healthy, student-friendly prices
Managing the Mini Market (pay-what-you-can grocery program)
Event Planning & Community Building
Delivering orientation, welcome Month programming, professional development workshops, celebrations, and social events
Coordinating multi-campus logistics across Waterloo, Brantford, Kitchener, Milton, and online
Ensuring events are accessible, well-run, and focused on connection
Governance, Accountability & Fee Transparency
Supporting the Board of Directors and maintaining compliance
Strengthening our financial accountability practices
Publishing clear budget summaries and impact statements
Ensuring fees are used carefully, strategically, and transparently
Service Provision
Coordination of extended benefit plan and opt-out system
Facilitation of the MyStoria program
Delivery of the Legal Services Program, Empower Me Program
Maintaining the operational stability that allows programs to run consistently and safely
This is the work that turns student fees into real impact.
Student leaders identify what’s needed.
Professional staff make it possible.
Together, they build a graduate experience grounded in care, stability, and responsiveness.
~9% supports operational essentials such as:
insurance
communications tools
access to campus systems
office & administration
emergency support reserves
event logistics
Within those operational essentials, we reserve limited funds for:
urgent support needs
emergency student situations
unexpected opportunities that benefit graduate students
This ensures we’re ready to respond when urgent student needs arise.
This is our current fiscal year budget. We will be moving toward a formal project-accounting system next fiscal year which will provide further breakdown into the human resources spent in each of the categories below that reflect the work we actually do every day
Category 2025/2026 Budget
Salaries – Student Leadership $243,400.00
Salaries – Support Staff (includes café) $350,333.44
Total Salaries $593,733.44
Training – Student Leadership $1,000.00
Training – Support Staff $500.00
Parking – Student Leadership $1,000.00
Parking – Support Staff $2,500.00
PD – Support Staff $3,000.00
Board PD and Training $500.00
Student Leadership PD $2,500.00
Communications $2,500.00
Insurance $14,000.00
Online Platform $1,500.00
Office Expenses $15,000.00
University Relations $2,500.00
Social Programming $30,000.00
Presidential Reserve $3,000.00
Emergency & Bridge $5,000.00
Total $678,233.44
Estimated Income – Spring Fees $114,690.66
Estimated Income – Fall Fees $123,973.67
Estimated Income – Winter Fees $106,892.98
Income Support – CSS Fee $192,556.04
Income Support – Orientation $115,125.00
$653,238.35
To execute this plan, we will use reserve funds accumulated from years prior to invest in the graduate student experience this year.
We plan with care, spend with intention, and work every day to ensure student fees become student impact.