A province-wide strike by support staff at Ontario colleges is now in progress. This labour disruption does not include faculty at Conestoga, and all academic activities will proceed as scheduled.
Conestoga will make every effort to minimize disruptions to services, given the constraints of the situation. Information about specific services is provided below. This list will be updated and expanded as more information becomes available.
Index of Services:
Aboriginal Services: All services will be fully provided and accessible.
Bookstore: Online ordering is available for Doon, Cambridge, Waterloo, Guelph and Ingersoll locations. Please allow 3 business days for pickup.
Doon Bookstore will be open:
Monday through Thursday: 9:30 am - 6:30 pmGuelph Bookstore will be open:
Friday: 9:00 am - 3:30 pm
Monday through Thursday: 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm until October 6Waterloo Bookstore will be open:
Monday through Thursday: 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Tuesday and Thursday: 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Guelph Tuesday to Friday 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Doon Monday to Friday - 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Waterloo Tuesday to Friday - 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
285 Weber St. - Closed
Stratford Monday - 8:30 - 4:30, Tuesday - 12:00 - 4:30, Wednesday - 12-6, Thursday - 12-4:30, Friday - 8:30-4:30
Child Care Centres: All Child Care Centres will be closed for the duration of the strike.
Cleaning & Housekeeping Services: will continue as normal.
Co-op and Career Services: The Co-op and Career Services centre at Doon is closed. Career and Employment Advising Services are suspended for the duration of the strike.
The Co-op Office is open with limited services, including job posting.
Co-op Students are encouraged to access their co-op and career preparation and co-op work term courses online and to complete and submit assignments. Students seeking a fall work term should apply to co-op jobs, which will continue to be posted on MyCareer.
Employers are requested to connect directly with students who apply for co-op positions to arrange interviews off campus.
Counselling Services is open with regular hours. Appointments can be made for any campus by calling ext 3360 between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm. When meeting with your counsellor at Doon, please come to the reception area of Counselling Services in Room 1A101. For Guelph campus, go to the Welcome Centre next to the front door. For Waterloo campus, go to the Admin Office. For Cambridge campus, go to the Adaptive Technology Room, A2219 on the second floor.
Disability Services is open and continues to make counsellor appointments and book tests. The Adaptive Technology Lab at Doon is open and can provide access to E-books and adaptive technology. Hours: Monday - Thursday, 8:00 am - 8:00 pm; Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm; Saturday, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm.
Adaptive Technology Labs at Cambridge will be open Monday to Thursday and by appointment at Waterloo and Guelph. When meeting with your counsellor at Doon, please come to Room 1A107. For Guelph campus, go to the Welcome Centre next to the front door. For Waterloo campus, go to the Admin Office. For Cambridge campus, go to the Adaptive Technology Room, A2219 on the second floor.
Financial Aid: Services will be limited. OSAP distribution will be given highest priority.Students can expect delays.
OSAP loan release schedule:
OSAP distribution is campus-specific. You can pick up your OSAP document only at the campus that you are attending.Monday, Sept 19: Doon (LRC), 9:30 am - 12:00 noon; Cambridge, 1:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Wednesday, Sept 21: Doon (LRC), 9:30 am - 12:00 noon; Waterloo, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Thursday, Sept 22: Cambridge, 9:30 am – 12 noon; Guelph, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Friday, Sept 23: Doon (LRC), 9:30 am - 1:30 pm
Food Services: will continue as normal.
Health Services: Health Services is open for doctor's appointments during the following hours:
- Monday, Wednesday and Friday - 8:30 am - 12:00 noon
- Tuesday and Thursday - 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
- Chiropractor appointments are also available on Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Call 519-748-5220 ext 3679 or walk in to make an appointment.
IELTS: International English Language Testing System tests will be held as scheduled. The Conestoga IELTS Test Centre is open with reduced services.
IT Services: The Doon IT Service desk will remain open from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm with limited support. Please contact the Service desk via email at itsdesk@conestogac.on.ca or phone 519-748-5220 x3444.
Tickets for requests will be created and dealt with as time and resources permit. Priority will be given to major network or system outages. All upgrades and new installations are on hold.
All support requests must be directed to the IT Service desk.
Support Schedule:
- Guelph IT support will be limited to mornings only.
- Waterloo ITsupport will be limited to resource availability.
- Cambridge ITsupport will be daily but limited.
- All other sites will receive support for priority issues only.
Learning Commons: The following services will be unavailable for the duration of the strike: Peer Tutoring (students are encouraged to arrange study groups within their classes), Math dropins, Computer Assistance, Peer Conversation Partners for ELS students, Learning Skills Advising, all in-class writing and learning skills presentations that have been requested by faculty. All student/peer hiring interviews/training have been cancelled. One-one Writing Consulting will be available on a limited basis through the services of our part-time writing consultant. Students interested in making an appointment should contact Allison Baby (ababy@conestogac.on.ca). On-line resources are available on the Learning Commons website - www.conestogac.on.ca/learningcommons/index.jsp The Learning Commons is currently closed.
Library Resource Centre: Limited Library service available - services and hours will be reduced.
The following will be available to students and faculty:
Doon Campus Library Service Hours: Monday-Friday, 8 am - 4 pm. Open from 12:00 noon - 4:00 pm on Saturday, September 24 and Saturday, October 1.
What's Available: study space, computer workstations, Library Card registration, borrowing books, access to all online resources on and off-campus, basic research assistance, access to Reserves and media resources.
What's Unavailable: instructional workshops, class library visits, resource purchasing, meeting rooms, A/V equipment loans, A/V maintenance, laptop loans, change for the photocopier, comprehensive research help, interlibrary loan service and document delivery. Faculty needing assistance with classroom teaching technologies should contact the IT Service Desk at x3444
Cambridge Campus Library There will be no service hours or immediate access to print resources at the Cambridge Library. Please email lrccirc@conestogac.on.ca or call ext. 3485 if you have an inquiry about Cambridge resources. We will try to accommodate all requests. Our extensive e-resources and research guides are very helpful for accessing online resources.
OntarioLearn Courses: OntarioLearn's 24 / 7 technical support remains available with no disruption or decline of service. Your instructor will continue as the faculty member of your course. All courses will continue with established due dates for assignments, tests and exams still in effect. For more information, check the website of the college at which you registered.
Parking: Staff and students who have valid parking passes should continue to park in their designated lots. Sales of parking passes will be conducted on a limited basis in the admin office (Room 2B10-10) at the Doon Campus from 11am-1pm daily, depending on staff availability. Individuals without passes should use the daily lots with the dispensers at Doon (#1/#11) and at Waterloo and Guelph campuses until they are able to purchase a pass.
Photo ID will be available at the Doon Campus Registrar’s Office between 10 am and 3 pm.
Recreation Centre: The fitness centre and gymnasium at the Conestoga Recreation Centre will be open from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm from Monday to Friday. The rink will remain closed for the duration of the labour disruption.
Registrar's Office: The Registrar's Office will be open for service Monday through Friday from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm for as long as the current labour disruption continues.
Non-essential services will be limited or unavailable; some services - such as transcript requests, confirmations of enrollment, etc.- will be available based on level of urgency. Less urgent requests will be completed on a best effort basis
Many transactions can be completed on-line: students are encouraged to visit the student portal for course registrations, add/drops, fee payments, etc.
Second Career Information Sessions: The session scheduled for September 14 in Guelph will run as scheduled.
Security Services: will continue as normal.
Student Life: The following events/workshops/activities will be unavailable for the duration of the strike: In-class Respect presentations, campus service learning initiatives, Connect Leadership Series (registration will remain open), Be Part of the Discussion series and launch, and student committees (United Way, Respect, Student Life). Activities will resume once the strike is ended.
The GLTBQ Welcome Session scheduled for Tuesday, September 13 will be cancelled as a result of the support staff strike.
The Connect Leadership Workshop - You Can Lead Too! scheduled for September 15 is cancelled as a result of the support staff strike.
Community and Campus Get Involved Fairs scheduled for the week of September 19 are cancelled.
The Student Life Centre Information Desk at Doon will be open reduced hours of 8:00 am - 5:00 pm weekdays until September 16. Beginning September 19, the desk will be open from 8:00 am - 8:00 pm. During this time, group work and meeting rooms can be booked out. When the desk is closed, students can go to Security for information needs.
Testing Services: The following testing services are suspended for the duration of the strike:
- Admission Testing for English, Mathematics and Science
- Apprenticeship Exemption Testing
- Make-up Tests
- Mature Student Assessment
- Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR)
- Proctoring Services
Tours: Tours of the various campuses will not be available for the duration of the labour disruption.
Varsity Sports Tryouts: Varsity tryouts for rugby, fastball and soccer will take place the week of September 6. Volleyball tryouts have been postponed and will be rescheduled. For more details, visit the Recreation Centre section on our website.