Students rights

The OCSU exists to serve as a voice for students. Our campaigns are focused on raising awareness of students’ issues and concerns to government, while educating members on their rights as students. We hold events throughout the academic year that revolve around these issues to help get you engaged. These goals are only effective when students like you help speak up in these campaigns.

1 2 3 4 5

Top three ways to get involved

Share your story
Sign a petition or take a pledge in one of our campaigns, and don’t forget to include your own personal experience with the relevant issue. Petitions and pledges are available in all of our offices.
Spread the word
Talk to your friends, family, classmates, instructors, neighbours, high school crush, and the dude in the drive-thru window at McDonalds about the issues you care about. Tell anyone who will listen – word of mouth is the best form of advertisement. Remember to share on your social media too!
Volunteer with us
Interested in working at one of our campaign events? Contact us! Be sure to pop by our events anyway, even if volunteering isn’t your thing. Students like you showing your interest in our campaigns helps make our message stronger.

Do these campaigns really work?

Yes! Since we’re part of the province-wide British Columbia Federation of Students, these campaigns have thousands voices from all over BC. That makes for a pretty loud message! Thanks to all of our collective efforts, we have had success in asking the government to:

Implement a grants system in BC
Eliminate interest on provincial student loans
Increase funding for Open Education Resources

These victories wouldn’t be possible without students like you getting involved. OCSU and BCFS are the banners that unify your efforts, but it is your voice that is heard at discussion tables.

Current Campaigns

The high cost of textbooks is creating obstacles for students to be successful in classes. Since 2002, the cost of textbooks has nearly doubled. In fact, 26% of BC students choose to not register for a course due to textbook costs, which negatively impacts their academic career.

Learn more

We, along with the BCFS as a whole, have joined the University of Victoria, the University of Victoria Students’ Society, and the Anti-Violence Project to fight against the prevalence of rape culture and sexualized violence through their Let’s Get Consensual campaign.

Learn more