In response to the highly contagious Omicron COVID-19 variant, universities and colleges across Canada are delaying the start of the winter semester or pivoting back to online classes.

Les syndicats des professeur.e.s (SPUL) et des chargé.e.s de cours (SCCCUL) of Université Laval issued a joint statement  this week calling on the Quebec government to delay the start of the winter semester until the end of January, arguing that faculty and teachers need more time and preparations to make the transition.

CAUT is tracking these changes and has made the information available to members and the public in its Institutional Re-Opening Plan Database. As of January 20, 62 colleges and universities in Canada, 60 of whose academic staff associations are members of CAUT or its affiliates, have delayed the start of the Winter 2022 term or started the term with classes online. Of these post-secondary institutions:

• More than half (55%) are scheduled to return to in-person instruction on or before January 31.
• Twenty-one per cent are scheduled to return to in-person instruction between February 1 and 14.
• Nineteen per cent are scheduled to return to in-person instruction on February 15 or later.
• Five per cent have planned a phased return to in-person instruction from January 31 through February 28.