What’s New
Take our advocacy survey, or learn about voting in the 2026 Alberta Referendum.
Led by students to serve students, we promote the interests of the University of Calgary’s undergraduates. Whether they’re engaging with the University or advocating to all three tiers of government, your elected Students’ Legislative Council (SLC) works tirelessly to improve things on campus and beyond. Read on and you’ll see we’re not just the org that brings events to Mac Hall, or the mysterious gatekeepers of campus lockers (though the rumours are true—that’s us, too).
Check out our Campaigns page for an outline of what we’re currently fighting for and how it will benefit students. You’ll find a full account of what we want to see from not just the University, but all levels of government.
Contact information for your elected officials (e.g. Faculty Representatives and Council Executives) is here. Got an advocacy-related matter? Meet your advocacy team. Contact information for the whole SU can be found here.
How did you know?! You can find advocacy posts in the SU’s news archives. You can also see archived messages from your elected SU President, containing updates, useful tips and information about campus life.
Contact the SU
- Find the Students’ Union Office inside MacEwan Student Centre (8:30am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday).
- Call us direct on 403-220-6551, or drop us a message using our contact form.
- Email your Faculty Rep or Council Executives directly.
- Contact the Advocacy Team for advocacy-related questions.
- Graduate students should direct queries to the Graduate Students’ Association.
Quick Links
Check out our resources page, or try these shortcuts:
- Find job and volunteer opportunities.
- Access the SU Food Bank.
- Get help with student housing.
- Find bursaries, hardship funds and scholarships.
- Find health resources on campus.
- Get support after sexual and gender-based violence (via the University).
- Find 2SLGBTQIA+ resources on campus.
The SU is run by students, voted in by students, via the Students’ Legislative Council. Want to make a difference? Every January, eligible students start running for a one-year term on SLC (May 1—April 31). See the link for more info on each position and how to run.
We run two annual surveys: one in Jan/Feb, one in Aug/Sep. Both are great opportunities to tell us your views directly, and we use the data to inform our advocacy efforts. (We’re sure you’re eager to participate, but taking part enters you into a $100 gift card draw.)
Find SU volunteer positions here as and when they become available. See the SU Calendar for upcoming events and activities. Find out how you can vote in upcoming elections for all forms of government. Attend a meeting of the Students’ Legislative Council.
Our annual Report to the Community contains a summary of our work and achievements (and don’t just take our word for it—we’re often in the news). In the meantime, here are the recent highlights:
University Governance
September 2026: The Government of Alberta ordered a panel of experts to review how artificial intelligence (AI) is used and applied in higher education. Your SU made verbal and written submissions to the Expert Panel on AI Impacts on Labour Markets and Post-secondary Outcomes, emphasizing that AI should not be adopted for adoption’s sake. We also advocated for greater privacy protections for students, and quality assurance in the form of AI training for students and faculty alike. You can find the SU’s comments and full written submission here.
Summer 2026: In 2025, your SU made submissions to the Expert Panel on Post-Secondary Institution Funding and Alberta’s Competitiveness, which looked at how Alberta’s post-secondary institutions are funded. This panel came about in the wake of steep budget cuts to Alberta’s post-secondaries since 2019, which are the direct cause of rising tuition costs for students every year since at the University of Calgary. In the summer of 2026, the SU participated in further consultations to inform the Ministry of Advanced Education’s early plans on implementing the panel’s recommendations. We’re advocating to maintain the 2% cap on annual tuition increases, and for a formula that provides predictable operational funding.
External Advocacy
February 2026: Your SU submitted recommendations to the provincial government ahead of Budget 2026, making the case for investments in—among other things—Open Educational Resources (OERs). OERs are effectively free, open-source textbooks that can be updated as needed, potentially saving students hundreds of dollars on their reading lists. Budget 2026 was announced in February, with the Ministry of Advanced Education confirming that it will explore investing $1 million into these resources.
November-December 2025: Your VP External Julia Law is Chair of the Calgary Student Alliance for her term (2025-26), a coalition of local students’ associations. As part of its platform, the Alliance has been advocating for more municipal action on affordable housing. Law spoke on this issue at a City of Calgary hearing during its Budget 2026 deliberations; Council’s final budget included an amendment to invest $10 million into affordable housing in Calgary’s Downtown—to the particular benefit of students at campuses there, like the new location of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape.
Student Wellbeing
October 2025-February 2026: We teamed up with the Graduate Students’ Association and the Students’ Association of Bow Valley College to submit recommendations for the provincial government’s Budget 2026, which you can read in full or summary form here. We’re excited to share that one of our recommendations was successful: see ‘External Advocacy’ above for more!
February 2026 (after survey in August-September 2025): Mac Hall, the SU’s base of operations and the only student-focused building on campus, was last upgraded nearly a quarter of a century ago. We ran a survey through the back-to-campus period, asking students where the Hall is currently meeting their needs and what features they’d like to see. Find out the results of the resultant referendum here.
2026: Our partnership with online platform Places4Students, which connects students to Calgarians willing to rent to them, continues its years-long run.
Page last updated: September 24, 2026