Ottawa

Algonquin College tells students to prepare for classes on Tuesday

The president of Algonquin College has told students to get ready to go back to class next week asa five-week Ontario college strike nears an end.

Back-to-work legislation expected to pass over the weekend to end college strike

Adele Yamada teaches communications full-time at Algonquin College. She says it's a shame the strike lasted as long as it did while still requiring arbitration. (Marc-André Cossette/CBC)

The president of Algonquin College has told students to get ready to go back to classes next week.

On Friday, the provincial government failed for a second time to pass back-to-work legislation to end a five-week strike at Ontario's colleges.

President Cheryl Jensen issued a notice to Algonquin students Friday afternoon warning them the legislation is expected to pass over the weekend and if that happens, teachers could be back to work as early as Monday.

Students would resume classes the following day, she said. 

"If you are a student who has been out of town, please start returning to your respective campuses to be ready for the resumption of classes," Jensen wrote. 

"Please consider this note as your minimum 48-hour notice and begin planning to return to class early next week."

Students were also advised to review course material and to be on the lookout for an email from the college after the legislation is passed. 

The NDP again blocked the proposed back-to-work legislation at a special 3 p.m. meeting in the Ontario legislature, which would have allowed roughly 500,000 students across the province to return to class. 

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath explained her party doesn't support any legislation that revokes workers' rights, and assured faculty and students the NDP would be ready to debate the legislation on Saturday.

Horwath later said in a tweet Friday evening that students will return to class early next week. 

The Progressive Conservatives backed the Liberals' bill, though leader Patrick Brown criticized the premier for not stepping in sooner.