WUSA is pleased to announce that our Vice President, Government and Stakeholder Relations, Rory Norris has been elected as President of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) for the 2026-27 year! Keep reading to learn more about what Rory is excited about, his plans as OUSA President, and more.  

What is OUSA? 

OUSA stands for the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance and represents over 160,000 university students at nine student associations across Ontario. OUSA conducts research, writes policy recommendations, lobbies the provincial government, organizes campaigns, and more – all in the interest of advancing accessible, affordable, high-quality, and equitable post-secondary education in Ontario.  

What made Rory want to run for OUSA President? 

Rory decided to run drawing on his experience as 2023-24 WUSA President and the student governance experience he’s developed throughout his years at Waterloo.  

“I felt that, given my experience as President in the past, I had a little bit of experience coming into the role from a governance perspective, as well as some of the other skills that you’d want to see in a President, when it comes to chairing board meetings and supporting the organization in general.” 

His experience wasn’t the only motivator. Rory also cites some of the bigger decisions coming from the provincial government, like Bill 33 and cuts to OSAP, as reasons why he wanted to step up and get involved.  

In November 2025, the provincial government passed Bill 33, section 21 of which proposes that student associations comply with government regulations on ancillary fees, which could ultimately threaten student associations, like WUSA’s, ability to offer key services that students themselves have deemed essential to their success at university. Then, in February 2026, the government announced that starting in fall 2026, OSAP grants will decrease from a maximum of 85% to 25%, forcing students to shoulder significantly more debt just to access education. 

“In the past couple years, we’ve had really big things come through the provincial government when it comes to OSAP cuts as well as Bill 33.” He also cites other ongoing issues that students are facing, “particularly around affordability… and the lack of support that students are feeling from the government”. 

What are his priorities for the year? 

Rory identified both advocacy and organizational goals for the year. On the advocacy side, his focus remains on affordability, OSAP funding, and Bill 33, continuing momentum built by the 2025-26 WUSA Board of Directors. He’s also thinking pragmatically about how to advocate for this change, potentially exploring other options to help alleviate affordability issues and improve OSAP, like adjusting repayment periods or exploring interest-free models.  

On the organizational side, Rory is focused on improving OUSA’s visibility. Many students at Waterloo don’t know what OUSA does for them. He also wants to strengthen OUSA’s relationship with member associations like WUSA, creating better collaboration between organizations while they advocate on key student issues.  

What is he looking forward to most about this role? 

“It’s hard at times to measure the wins,” Rory acknowledged. “You could spend a whole year pushing for one particular thing and maybe that just isn’t a priority for the government right now. But what matters more in that case is that you put the time in, you put the effort in — and eventually, priorities change, people reconsider things, and they reflect back on the recommendations they’d heard.” 

He’s also grounding himself in a longer view: even if advocacy gains are slow to materialize, stabilizing OUSA as an organization — ensuring it’s in a stronger, more sustainable position than it was at the start of the year — would itself be a meaningful achievement. 

“Even if I get through this year and maybe none of our advocacy points actually stick, there’s still the other piece of getting OUSA as an organization to a place where it is more stable going forward and better able to continue the work it’s doing.” 

Congratulations to Rory on being elected OUSA President! We can’t wait to see what he accomplishes this year and are looking forward to being along for the ride.