Algonquin College students voted “yes” in a referendum on whether full-time students should be required to pay for a mandatory transit pass known as the U-Pass.
Voting took place from Nov. 17-21, and 40 per cent of the eligible student population cast their votes.
Eighty-three per cent of the cast ballots were in favour of the U-Pass, while 17 per cent were against it, according to Christina Miller, president of the Algonquin Students’ Association.
The cost of the pass should not exceed $200 per term, and will be mandatory for all full-time students who do not meet requirements for an exemption.
Algonquin now joins Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, and Saint Paul University in requiring full-time students to have a U-Pass.
Miller said she is excited by the results of the referendum.
“I think that the amount of students that voted for it speaks so highly of how many students wanted this,” she said.
“With the amount of students that voted, I feel like it’s really indisputable that the Algonquin College student population really wanted the U-Pass,” Miller added.
The U-Pass still needs approval from the President’s Council and the Board of Governors before it goes to city council, but Miller said she does not anticipate any difficulties.
Once city council approves it, the college’s registrar’s office will add the fees to tuitions and students will have access to the U-Pass in time for the Fall 2015 term.
