Student unions in Montreal are spending thousands for PPE on campus

Student unions at Concordia University say they are spending thousands to purchase N95 masks for students, saying their administration is failing in its responsibility to create a safe working environment. 

In-person classes will resume at the university on Thursday, after initially being delayed until Jan 20. Currently, only procedural masks are distributed to students on campus.

"Concordia should be the ones doing the mask distribution," said Jonathan Llewellyn, the vice-president of the Teaching and Research Assistants at Concordia (TRAC).

"This situation could have been avoided if Concordia had taken a better path to returning instead of unilaterally deciding that we would return without very much in the way of guidelines or accommodations."

TRAC has already purchased roughly a thousand masks for its members. 

"Throwing a bunch of people in together is asking for a super spreader event," said Llewellyn, also a teaching assistant in the computer sciences department. 

An overwhelming number of students in his class have said they don't feel comfortable returning yet, he said. Many of the undergraduate classes in his department have well over 100 students. 

A survey of teaching and research assistants by the union in January found 88 per cent are in favour of upgrading masks on campus. A large majority, 78 per cent, also said they didn't feel ready yet to return in person. 

The Concordia Student Union, which represents undergraduates, is also in a race to purchase N95 masks. Because of supply issues, they will be prioritizing them for high-risk students first, such as those who are immunocompromised. 

"The main issue is stocking. They're in stock for five minutes and then they're gone," said Hannah Jamet-Lange, the academic and advocacy co-ordinator with the union. 

The student societies that represent undergraduate and graduate students at McGill University and the union representing that school's support staff have also purchased respirator-style masks since classes resumed Jan 24.

In a statement Monday, Concordia said it intends to continue providing procedural masks on campus. 

"The very large majority of activities that take place on campuses do not require N95 respirators according to Public Health and, in educational sectors, procedure masks are being used to help mitigate transmission risks along with other preventative measures in place," said spokesperson Vannina Maestracci. 

Unions on campus have published open letters over the last month asking for a delay in reopening as well as accommodations to allow some people to continue with online learning.