Ontario's colleges and universities minister says ahead of a walk-out planned Friday by college professors and other academic staff that students can't afford a strike right now.
After various COVID-19 disruptions to learning, Jill Dunlop says students are finally back in the classroom, which is where they need to be and where the best education takes place.
She says she has heard from students and parents who are very upset.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union's college faculty bargaining team has told colleges that they will go on strike Friday if the institutions don't agree to binding interest arbitration on the remaining issues.
The College Employer Council says it will agree to final offer arbitration, which allows an arbitrator to simply choose between one final offer or the other.
The union recommended its members reject the colleges' final offer in January, listing key issues as workload, the contracting out of faculty work, and benefits for part-time faculty.