OPSEU Local 720

04/24/2026

Deadline coming soon!!! OPSEU/SEFPO's Indigenous Circle invites you to submit your application to attend the 2026 Water Summit.
https://opseu.org/water-summit-2026-june-5-7-in.../...

Dear OPSEU/SEFPO Members:
OPSEU/SEFPO's Indigenous Circle invites you to submit your application to attend the 2026 Water Summit. The Summit will take place from Friday, June 5, to Sunday, June 7, 2026, at the Delta Hotels Thunder Bay.
The theme of the 2026 Water Summit is “Making the Invisible, Visible”. The goal is to bring together OPSEU/SEFPO members and build a movement of labour activists who can organize to go beyond education and awareness. Historically, there has been a lack of public awareness and outcry about the water crisis. It is also important to note that every community with a drinking water advisory is different — in some areas, the challenges are much harder to address due to factors such as remoteness or a heavily contaminated source water. The location of this Summit was intentionally selected to highlight the challenges remote communities face.
The Indigenous Circle hopes to create effective partnerships across the seven regions to build on the advocacy efforts lead by Indigenous elders, leaders and activists that is grounded and centered in Indigenous ways, culture and rights.
This event can accommodate approximately 150 members, who will be selected by the Indigenous Circle. The selection process seeks to achieve a diverse group of attendees, representative of Indigenous (First Nation, Métis and Inuit) within OPSEU/SEFPO membership and their distribution among all seven regions. We aim for a diverse mix of backgrounds and perspectives among the participants.
Please submit your application no later than Monday, April 27th by 5:00 p.m. by completing the online application form. Incomplete applications will not be considered. For any additional requirements, please contact the Member Equity Unit directly at equity@opseu.org.
We look forward to meeting you!
In solidarity,
OPSEU/SEFPO Indigenous Circle
Authorized for distribution by: JP Hornick – President
The purpose of the Water Summit is to:
Highlight the longstanding inequities Indigenous communities face when
accessing clean and safe water
Amplifying current issues and advocacy efforts lead by Indigenous
communities
Inspire, equip and mobilize OPSEU/SEFPO members to join and
support ongoing advocacy efforts in the local regions and beyond
Tentative Summit Agenda
(All sessions and speakers subject to change)
Friday, June 5, 2026
4:00 to 6:00 PM Registration (dinner on your own)
6:00 PM Smudging
7:00 to 7:30 PM Summit Opening and Teaching from Elder
7:30 to 7:35 PM Chair’s Welcome
7:35 to 8:35 PM Fireside Chat Grassy Activists
8:35 to 8:45 PM Drumming Circle
8:45 to 9:00 PM Questions, Wrap-up, Adjournment
Saturday, June 6, 2026
8:00 to 9:00 AM Registration Reopens (breakfast on your own)
9:00 to 9:45 AM Welcome from Circle Chair & Leadership
9:45 to 10:45 AM Water Ceremony
11:00 to 12:30 PM Offsite Program (shuttle provided)
12:30 to 2:00 PM Lunch (on your own)
2:00 to 5:00 PM Offsite Program (shuttle provided)
5:00 to 7:00 PM Dinner (catered)
7:00 to 9:00 PM Evening Session
Sunday, June 7, 2026
7:30 to 8:00 AM Sunrise Ceremony
8:00 to 9:00 AM Breakfast (on your own)
9:00 to 9:10 AM Welcome back and recap
9:10 to 10:15 AM Keynote Address
10:15 to 10:30 AM Break
10:30 to 11:40 AM Panel Discussion
11:40 to 11:55 PM Closing remarks, ReconciliAction & Travelling
Song
12:00 PM Adjournment

03/07/2026

03/07/2026

Let’s show our support for HPD as they head into arbitration this weekend!! Good Luck

03/05/2026

01/21/2026

Bell Lets Talk Day…

The campaign began in 2011 with the goal of encouraging open dialogue and funding mental health initiatives across Canada. But as it has grown into a national brand, it has also come with responsibility. When corporations and employers publicly align themselves with mental health advocacy, that commitment must extend beyond a single day of awareness.

If employers are going to promote Bell Let’s Talk Day and speak the language of care and psychological safety, they also need to walk the talk the other 364 days of the year. That means supporting their own workers, addressing burnout and unsafe workloads, bringing meaningful proposals to bargaining tables, and ensuring the people we serve have access to basic dignity and care.

Frontline workers see the disconnect clearly when mental health is celebrated publicly while staffing remains inadequate and workers are left to carry the impact of underfunding.

Mental health cannot be treated as a public relations exercise. It requires real investment, real support, and real accountability.

On Bell Let’s Talk Day, we support open conversation and we continue to push for action that matches the words.

01/20/2026

Hello OPSEU SEFPO Local 720,
Please see the message below from the OPSEU SEFPO Thunder Bay and District Area Council and Region 7 Equity Committee Members. Everyone is invited to attend. Registation link in message below.

Region 7 members — your OPSEU/SEFPO Region 7 Equity Committee, in conjunction with the TBDAC, is hosting a Human Trafficking Awareness Seminar on February 22nd, from 1:00–4:00 PM at the regional office on Memorial.

This important seminar will include:

A survivor of human trafficking sharing their lived experience

An educational presentation by the Joy Smith Foundation

A panel discussion with opportunities for learning and reflection

This is a meaningful opportunity to deepen our understanding, build awareness, and engage in informed dialogue on an issue that impacts communities across Ontario.

📝 Registration is required.

Please sign up by February 16th using the link below:

👉 https://forms.gle/4jm8kvF8oSJDb4tcA

We encourage all Region 7 members to attend and take part in this important conversation.

This event will be offered hybrid as well as inperson at OPSEU SEFPO Regional Office on Memorial Ave.

01/08/2026

Many public service workers rush towards emergencies. Why do we abandon them when their courage causes them mental harm? By Wendy Lee, Local 575, InSolidarity Committee Violence. Extreme distress. Catastrophic injuries and wounds. For many front-line workers, these are an inevitable part of the job,...

12/20/2025

People over profit!

Ontario’s mental-health system is being quietly pushed toward privatization, and that should worry all of us.

Under Doug Ford, more publicly funded mental-health services are being delivered through private, for-profit providers instead of strengthening the public system we already have.

This is often sold as “increasing access” or “reducing wait times,” but that’s not what’s happening on the ground.

When services are privatized, workers don’t magically appear — they’re pulled out of hospitals, community mental-health programs, and crisis services. That leaves public programs more understaffed than they already are.

Private models also tend to focus on short-term, quick-turnover care. That might work for mild or situational issues, but it fails people living with complex trauma, serious mental illness, or long-term needs who require consistent, relationship-based support.

It also creates a two-tier system. People who can pay out of pocket get faster or more complete care. Everyone else waits — or falls through the cracks. Mental-health care should be based on need, not income.

There’s also far less transparency. Public mental-health services are accountable to communities and the public. Private providers answer to contracts, metrics, and profit margins.

And when people don’t get proper mental-health support early, the costs don’t disappear — they show up later in emergency rooms, hospitals, policing, child welfare, and the justice system. That’s worse for people and more expensive for taxpayers.

You don’t fix a mental-health crisis by turning care into a business.

The answer is properly funding public mental-health services, keeping skilled workers in the system, and providing long-term, consistent care — not outsourcing it.

Mental-health care is health care. It shouldn’t depend on your ability to pay.

If this concerns you, don’t ignore it. Talk about it. Share this. Ask questions. Reach out to your MPP and let them know that publicly funded mental-health care matters to you. Listen to frontline workers and people with lived experience, and support public services in your community. These decisions change when people pay attention — silence is how this happens quietly. Mental-health care works best when it’s public, accountable, and built around people, not profit.

OPSEU SEFPO Mental Health & Addictions Division

10/10/2025

October 10 is .

OPSEU/SEFPO recognizes the deep dedication and compassion of the more than 8,000 members working in Mental Health and Addictions services across Ontario.

Our members work tirelessly every day, even as demand for services rises and resources shrink. Sustained investment in mental health and addictions services is urgently needed to ensure safe, effective, and accessible support for all Ontarians.

Mental health is also a workers’ issue. From burnout and stress to precarious work and underfunded services, too many workers face barriers to getting the support they deserve. Across OPSEU/SEFPO, we will continue to challenge stigma, fight for funding for the services people rely on, and organize for safer, more equitable workplaces and communities.