By: Hannah Fraser, News Editor

In July, The Peak received word from the Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU) that SFU decided to increase the vehicle allowance perk for SFU executives by about $75,000. A vehicle allowance is a payment made by an employer to cover an employee’s vehicle expenses. A freedom of information (FOI) request indicated the perk increased amid SFU’s layoffs of nearly 100 staff, “including instructors, administrative support staff, and custodial workers” this summer.

SFU has been facing an estimated $49.9 million deficit in its latest fiscal year, citing “declining international student enrollment” as the main factor. Specifically, SFU saw a 15% decline in international student enrollment from 2019/20 to 2023/24. According to the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS), SFU laid off nearly 100 staff in “essential [student] services” in response, such as Health & Counselling, Academic Advising, and Co-op Support. The layoffs also extended to the athletics and recreation department, instructors, and custodial workers. 

Despite the deficit, TSSU chief steward Kayla Hilstob and member representative Derek Sahota found that SFU decided to increase the vehicle allowance perk via a FOI request to SFU. The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act outlines how the public can request and access BC government records. Sahota told The Peak he and Hilstob made the FOI request to better understand SFU vice president contracts and how much they make, as this information isn’t largely made public. “Gross misuse of public funds is something I see time and time again at SFU, and that’s why we use these FOIs to start to look and dig into what’s going on — and it’s very troubling,” said Sahota. 

Sahota and Hilstob found that SFU increased the vehicle allowance perk to $1,000 a month for SFU executives — a $5,000 increase per person per year. The FOI request indicates most vice presidents and some associate vice presidents received the increase, along with SFU president Joy Johnson and other executives. They also noted that SFU’s increase of this perk coincided with the layoffs. Specifically, Sahota said SFU was “designing” the layoffs in the “exact same time frame” as their decision to increase this perk. “That process has remained completely opaque to the community, and questions the TSSU has asked about it have gone completely unanswered from the senior administration,” he said. Hilstob found SFU’s planning “egregious.”

“Gross misuse of public funds is something I see time and time again at SFU, and that’s why we use these FOIs to start to look and dig into what’s going on — and it’s very troubling.” — Derek Sahota, TSSU member representative

In a statement to The Peak, SFU confirmed the increase in car allowances. They stated that last year, the Treasury Board of Canada “approved new vehicle lease and allowance rates” for BC Public Service deputy ministers. SFU said the ministers’ vehicle allowance increased from $580 to $1,000 as the “rates had not been increased since 2007 and did not adequately reflect current costs.” SFU stated they were advised they could “adjust vehicle lease or allowance rates to be in line with the BC Public Service policy for executives who have this commitment in their compensation package.” They added that BC employers “subject to the Public Sector Employers Act” were advised the same.

While it’s not uncommon for a vehicle allowance to be $1,000 a month in Canada, the increase creates an additional annual expense of about $75,000 for the university. Sahota pointed out that the additional money to pay for this expense “could have gone instead to saving jobs.” The Administrative and Professional Staff Association (APSA) previously told The Peak that some of the workers laid off this summer “were either on some sort of medical leave and/or maternity leave” or had recently returned from medical leave “within the last year.” APSA is an “independent association” that advocates for administrative staff. Women made up 77% of these layoffs, with those “over the age of 55 or a visible minority” making up “between 30–40% of the layoffs.” Lakshmi Gosyne, APSA associate director, previously told The Peak how dehumanizing the layoffs felt for these workers, as many of them had “been working for SFU for 10, 15, or 20+ years.”

Given these layoffs and cuts to student services, Hilstob said, for “those of us who do the work on campus and those of us who are here studying, our needs are not prioritized.” The new allowance was built “into the new employment contract template for senior leaders as something that can be offered as well,” indicating the annual expense could go above $75,000 in the future.

But how else is SFU managing the estimated deficit? The Peak also received word from an anonymous source that at a recent event, SFU president Joy Johnson allegedly stated “everything is on the table” in terms of budget cuts and seemed to think the tuition cap was too low. The Peak was unable to verify this claim but spoke to SFSS president Emmanuel Adegboyega, who was at the event. Adegboyega said the event referenced was a Greater Vancouver Board of Trade event where president Johnson spoke about “SFU’s approach to partnerships.” He stated that the SFSS continues to “urge the university to find several ways to reach their operational costs that do not rely fully on students having to compensate.” He said the SFSS advocates for a limit on tuition increases and continues to push SFU to prioritize services and activities “that students really care about” in their budgets. These especially include mental health services and the Centre for Accessible Learning. 

The SFSS president noted that SFU has official processes to receive feedback from the student body and student leaders, but could not speak to what was done with the feedback.

Sahota said he was concerned about SFU’s vice presidents being less present “at the table” to take on the work compared to the vice presidents at McMaster University, where he previously studied. He said that since 2020, he’s noticed a “huge growth in the budget” to almost a billion dollars a year. “Whether there is a projection of a deficit or not, there is enough money around here to deliver what is needed for the people who do the work,” said Sahota.

“Something seemed to go awry beyond difficulties with international student enrollment.” — Andrew Boden, APSA executive director

The Peak also corresponded with Andrew Boden, the Administrative and Professional Staff Association’s (APSA) executive director, for more information on SFU’s budget decisions. Boden said he had “a lot of questions about how SFU’s budget process in fiscal year 2023/2024 was handled.

“Something seemed to go awry beyond difficulties with international student enrollment,” he said. Boden also noted that most APSA members “find SFU’s senior administration aloof from the reality of the working rank and file at SFU.”

Sahota stated SFU “needs to be for the public good” and “actually keep people in jobs.” While the SFU community hasn’t hesitated to speak out about the layoffs this summer and the simultaneous increase in car allowances, Sahota said the Board of Governors is yet to take accountability and be transparent about these decisions. “We shouldn’t have to FOI this data. We shouldn’t have to be searching for this,” he said. “There needs to be accountability for what’s happened, and we need to set a new direction for this campus to survive now and into the future.”

This is a story The Peak will continue to cover.