Advocacy does not stop, even during summer breaks
As summer wraps up, we’re looking back at a year of student advocacy and saying goodbye to one of IGNITE’s Student Advocates.
Summer is usually a time to slow down.
But for IGNITE’s Student Advocates, it was a chance to look back at a year of showing up to students and prepare for what comes next.
Throughout the 2025-2026 academic year, Emily Edwards and Selena Ferreira brought student concerns to meetings, rallies, Queen’s Park and conversations directly to the decision-makers. Their work covered some of the biggest issues faced by post-secondary students. OSAP, Bill 33, fight for paid work-integrated learning—you name it.
Now, as Summer 2026 comes to a close, the advocacy team is entering a new chapter.
For Selena, that means saying goodbye to IGNITE after her final semester as a Student Advocate.
Advocacy does not take a break
Even as students stepped away from campus for the summer, the issues they were advocating for didn’t disappear.
IGNITE continued to follow the impact of changes to OSAP and Bill 33, two issues that shaped much of the advocacy work over the past year. These issues defined the future of students and their beloved services that made campus life better.
The Student Advocates have spent the summer keeping up with these developments and looking ahead to what they could mean for students returning to campus this fall.
It’s part of what makes advocacy different from a one-time campaign. A rally might last a few hours. A meeting might last an afternoon. But the policies being discussed can affect students for years.
That means the work continues long after the signs are put away and the meeting rooms are empty.
Your time is money
Change happens when the right people are listening. The past year gave Emily and Selena plenty of opportunities to take students’ concerns beyond campus.
Through IGNITE’s Time Is Money campaign, they advocated for paid WIL and brought student experiences to MPPs and other decision-makers one story at a time. Every signature for the campaign’s petition amplified the voices and motivated the Student Advocates to keep advocating.
They also took part in IGNITE’s Advocacy Summit at Queen’s Park, meeting with provincial representatives and speaking about the issues students were facing.
And then came OSAP.
As the provincial government announced changes to financial aid affecting many Humber Polytechnic and University of Guelph Humber students, IGNITE responded with rallies, town halls, letters, and meetings with decision-makers, making our mark as #proudbasketweavers.
Emily attended the Ontario NDP’s Save OSAP Town Hall, while both Student Advocates advocated at Queen’s Park. In March, they also attended Opposition Day as the legislature debated a motion calling for the government to reverse the OSAP cuts.
The motion didn’t pass, but the work continued.
At the end of April, SAs met with the College Student Alliance and MPP Peggy Sattler to discuss the College Student Alliance early OSAP survey results and talk about ways we can support students this upcoming fall semester amid OSAP cuts.
To show what those changes would actually look like for students, Emily created 22 student profiles representing a range of Humber and Guelph-Humber students and ran their information. She understood the impact of the cuts firsthand and was motivated never to stop the fight.
“Overall, I also saw that students were receiving less funding. So that’s something that really reignited my passion as much as I’ve like never stopped caring about OSAP.”
That message captures much of what the Student Advocates have done over the past year: continuing to show up, even when change doesn’t happen immediately.
A new issue on the horizon
While the past year was shaped by OSAP, Bill 33 and Time is Money, IGNITE is already looking toward what students will need next.
Housing is set to be a major focus of upcoming advocacy work.
IGNITE is preparing a new housing project that will bring student experiences into conversations around affordability and access to housing.
“We are really excited to be collaborating with the organization HOUSE this year to bring 3 housing workshops to provide students with tools and support throughout their housing search,” shared Emily.
The full details are still to come, but the project signals a new chapter in IGNITE’s advocacy — one focused on another issue that affects students both inside and outside the classroom.
Saying goodbye to Selena
For Selena, the summer marks the end of her time as an IGNITE Student Advocate.
Over the past year, she has been part of the conversations that brought student concerns to Queen’s Park and into meetings with decision-makers. She helped advocate for paid placements, spoke about the realities students face and represented the voices of Humber students beyond campus.
At the Advocacy Summit, Selena spoke about the importance of building relationships with government representatives:
“We are the vessels for students, but they are the vessels in the government body. If we have a good relationship with them, they can inform the other government bodies. It’s super important to keep the relationship fluid and open.”
It’s a fitting reflection of the role she has held, bringing what students are experiencing into spaces where decisions are being made.
Her advocacy journey has been about more than one campaign or one issue. It has been about being willing to listen, speak up and keep the conversation going.
As Selena moves on from IGNITE, the work she was part of continues.
Carrying the work forward
With Selena’s time as a Student Advocate coming to an end, Emily will continue building on the advocacy work from the past year as IGNITE looks toward a new school year. There will be new policies to unpack, new campaigns to launch, and new issues for students to bring forward. And there will always be more students whose experiences need to be heard.
Looking back, the 2025–2026 advocacy year wasn’t defined by one big moment. It was built through the smaller actions that happened throughout the year: the meetings, letters, rallies, petitions, conversations and trips to Queen’s Park. Works where you showed, shared your experience, stood your ground, and made an impact.
That’s the work of advocacy: showing up, speaking up and making sure students aren’t left out of the conversation.
As Summer 2026 comes to a close, IGNITE says goodbye to Selena and looks ahead to what’s next.
Thank you, Selena Ferreira, for a year of showing up for students.
Feature image courtesy of IGNITE
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