The University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU) has approved the 2025-26 UMSU operating budget at the April 3 board meeting without amendments, though no reason for a $40,000 expenditure line entitled “CFS project” was provided.
UMSU vice-president finance and operations Carolyn Wang was previously questioned on the budget line’s purpose at the March 27 board meeting by student-at-large Victoria Romero, responding that it was “confidential” to the acting chairperson.
Both Wang and UMSU president Divya Sharma did not respond to the Manitoban’s request for comment on the budget line’s purpose by the publication deadline.
Romero, who served as an UMSU executive during the 2022-23 year, stated the she “was privy to the internal conversations, votes [and] discussions associated with this budget line” and that during her term, the budget line was used for expenses related to the Canadian Federation of Students lawsuit against UMSU.
The 2024-25 UMSU operating budget reveals that $40K was also allotted for a CFS project, with $39,764.05 projected to have been spent from that allotment by the end of the fiscal year on April 30, 2025.
An expenditure line entitled CFS project, outlined in red, is part of the approved 2025-26 UMSU operating budget. The leftmost numerical column denotes 2024-25 budget values, followed by 2024-25 projections and the 2025-26 budget amounts.
Romero questioned whether UMSU would exceed the $40K allotment by the end of the current fiscal year at the March 27 meeting, with Wang responding that she “cannot speak on that since I do not get to see the invoices for our legal.”
Past UMSU budget records obtained by the Manitoban reveal that the end-of-December 2022 projection for the CFS project was $101,570, though the budget line was first introduced in the 2023-24 budget with a $40K allotment.
Canadian Federation of Students sues UMSU in 2022
The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), a national student organization representing post-secondary students, previously sued UMSU in August 2022 over outstanding membership fees.
“Despite continuing to collect the national and provincial fees prescribed by the bylaws from its individual students, UMSU has failed to remit the membership fees to the CFS since and including the 2018-2019 membership year,” reads the statement of claim filed with the Court of King’s Bench.
In 2018, 2020 and 2022, the UMSU board of directors voted against affirming membership with the CFS.
The University of Manitoba Students’ Union Act states that “membership in an external organization must be affirmed by a majority vote of the council every second calendar year,” and that “the council must take all required steps to terminate that membership” if it is not affirmed.
UMSU attempted to leave the federation in accordance with CFS bylaws in 2020 through a referendum, but was denied by CFS the ability to collect signatures online during the pandemic, per files from the lawsuit.
In October 2022, a referendum was held on whether UMSU should remain a member of CFS, with just over 54 per cent of students that voted choosing to leave the federation.
CFS stated in the lawsuit that the referendum was invalid due to non-compliance of the CFS decertification bylaws.
“The CFS respects and supports UMSU’s right to hold a referendum, but it must be done in accordance with the bylaws,” states an affidavit by Corey Grist, director of operations and services for CFS.
The CFS states that a referendum held in October 2022 by UMSU to leave the federation was invalid, despite the majority of students voting to defederate, as it did not comply with the CFS decertification bylaws. Photo by Ebunoluwa Akinbo
In a 33-page statement of defence and counterclaim filed by UMSU in February 2023, the students’ union “[denied] that any membership fees are due and owing,” adding that “the referendum process contained in the [CFS] bylaws is unfair and virtually impossible to comply with.”
The statement of defence and counterclaim also states that UMSU’s bylaws “supersede” the CFS bylaws as they “take precedence over the bylaws of private entities, such as the CFS.”
In 2022, before the October referendum, then-UMSU president Brendan Scott told the Manitoban that “according to our bylaws, we don’t [need a referendum], so in our eyes, we are removed, we are not members.”
“The amount owing from UMSU is estimated to be approximately $1,195,454.39,” states the affidavit by Grist, dated Oct. 14, 2022.
Sharma, CFS National and CFS Manitoba did not respond to the Manitoban’s request for comment on the lawsuit by the publication deadline.
UMSU continues to collect CFS fees despite denying membership
“[UMSU] denies that it remains a member of the CFS and denies that it continues to be bound my membership rights and responsibilities prescribed in the bylaws,” reads UMSU’s statement of defence and counterclaim.
The students’ union also counterclaimed against CFS for “a declaration that [it] has not been a member of the CFS and has not been bound by the bylaws since prior to the 2018-2019 membership year.”
Although UMSU has denied being a member of CFS in the lawsuit, it still continues to collect CFS membership fees from students.
UMSU collects $18.34 annually from each undergraduate student on behalf of the CFS, according to their website.
A screenshot from umsu.ca/finances/ taken on April 15, 2025 shows that UMSU collects a total of $18.34 annually (red box) per student on behalf of the CFS.
The Manitoba representative report for the federation’s October 2021 national executive meeting stated that the withheld fees sat “untouched in a bank account” according to UMSU executives, but that the federation has not seen documentation at that time to confirm the claim.
Both Sharma and Wang did not respond to the Manitoban’s request for comment on whether UMSU is still a member of the CFS by the publication deadline.
In June 2024, Sharma told the Manitoban that UMSU is a member of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA).
The approved budget includes $90,000 allotted for CASA-related expenditures, which has had a dedicated UMSU budget line each year dating back to the 2021-22 budget.
