Dalhousie University’s student union has voted to join a weeklong provincial strike to demand affordable tuition and the divestment from weapons manufacturers and other organizations.

Dalhousie Student Union (DSU) is one of four student unions across the province that will strike from March 15-21, aligning with the Canadian Federation of Students call for a provincewide action last month.

Maren Mealey, president of the DSU, says while the strike coincides with protests against the provincial government’s budget released two weeks ago, the motion predates the budget’s tabling.

Of the 226 students who voted on the motion Thursday night, 145 voted in favour. The vote was just over the required quorum of one per cent of the student body, or 202 students.

As the strike does not impact faculty or staff, classes will go ahead next week as normal and students will not be compelled to participate.

Standardization, affordability and divestment

The first demand in the DSU motion calls for the standardization of tuition fees for in-province, out-of-province and international students, and a 20 per cent decrease in tuition fees across the board.

The second demands divestment by Dalhousie University from weapons manufacturers, companies that produce fossil fuels and “entities which directly or indirectly support genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.”

The DSU strike comes roughly five months after the university’s faculty association ratified a new three-year agreement following a month-long strike and lockout beginning in August 2025.

University of King’s College’s student union also voted to strike on Thursday, and included the same list of demands as DSU.

Other universities to strike

The student unions at Acadia University in Wolfville and NSCAD University in Halifax have also voted to strike.

Ziggy Kirch, president of NSCAD’s student union, says they’re striking to call for better accessibility at the school and to express support for the university’s 133 teaching, research assistants and independent course appointees who are also on strike.

Its strike will also protest the provincial cuts to arts and culture funding.

“If you’re doing a degree in Nova Scotia for fine arts and you’re watching arts funding being cut, it’s not very hopeful for the future,” said Kirch.

The Acadia Students’ Union (ASU) strike motion supports demands for tuition reduction, but makes no mention of divestment. It also states the union is not affiliated with the Canadian Federation of Students. Neither the ASU nor the DSU are members of that federation.

Some student unions opt out

In a statement released to students, the Mount Saint Vincent University Students’ Union cited “chronic strike fatigue” and risk to international students in its decision to exempt itself from the proposed strike.

“Our campus has only just begun to recover from the successive faculty strikes in 2024 and 2025,” reads the statement. It also warns that participation in a student strike by international students could lead to their study permits being revoked.

The Saint Mary’s University Student Association (SMUSA), the St. Francis Xavier University Students’ Union and the Cape Breton University Students’ Union will also not officially take part in the strike.

SMUSA released a statement Thursday supporting students wishing to participate in the strike individually, but said it doesn’t have the authority to mandate a strike.

St. FX Student Union President Jake Cruchet says his student union will host a rally next Wednesday outside Antigonish MLA Michelle Thompson’s office to protest the province’s cuts to education funding.

“We are going to show the province that students are paying attention, and that we won’t stay quiet when the axe falls on our education,” said Cruchet.

In Halifax, students from universities throughout the city will convene at the old Memorial Library on Sunday, March 15 for a rally associated with the strike.

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