Food services could be outsourced by fall semester, college says

Algonquin College could outsource its food services by the fall semester, leaving many employees uncertain about their futures with the school.

Grant Perry, the college’s vice-president of finance and administration, announced on March 10 that the college is “entering the negotiation phase” with a supplier as they finalize a contract.

According to Perry’s message to the college community, food services would transition to the external company over the summer with full implementation done by the start of the fall semester. Perry didn’t identify the company in his message.

The outsourcing of food services applies to the services currently run by the college at the Ottawa campus. The plan doesn’t apply to any food outlets run by the Algonquin Students’ Association.

The college said last August it was looking into outsourcing food services, citing financial losses, rising operational costs and increased competition as reasons for the decision.

There was no news until March 9, when the college closed all its food services locations for 90 minutes so staff could meet.

“The meeting was just to say they are entering negotiations with a specific vendor. They would not divulge much more information than that,” said food service worker and Algonquin graduate Nick Weedon.

The decision is another in the college’s attempts to remain a financially viable institution.

Thirty-seven programs were suspended last year. Thirty more were suspended this year. Cuts have been made to the Centre for Accessible Learning staff.

Weedon says he understands the pressure the college is facing but has concerns about moving forward.

“They’ve got to make cuts. There’s no money,” said Weedon.

“(But) because we do have higher quality food, and (it’s) affordable, there’s value there. There’s quantity, there’s variety, all those big keywords. That is a draw for people wanting to come here and attend college, get a diploma from here. All of that factors in.

“And now, if you take all the programs out of it, and you change food service to something less desirable, allegedly less desirable, I’m trying to be diplomatic, right? But yeah, then it might make people think twice.”

Weedon graduated from the hospitality management program and found a job at his alma mater.

“There’s a lot of workplace morale and culture and everything, and because we’ve been working together for so long, there’s a lot of camaraderie there,” said Weedon. “We’ve been in the trenches with each other for a long time.”

Weedon’s concern comes from whether the company that buys the college’s food service contract will provide comparable salaries, hours and benefits packages for the current workers.

“I think that a lot of staff are concerned, obviously, about job security. If the new company comes in, what that’s gonna look like for their current contract, if it’s gonna be comparable to it,” said Weedon.

Weedon believes that during his decade-long employment at the college, Algonquin has upheld its four core values of caring, respect, integrity and learning.

“I would hope that any new company that comes in would uphold those values.” said Weedon.

Perry said the college will be holding information sessions for staff and making human resources available to answer questions about the transition.

“This decision does not reflect the dedication or professionalism of our Food Services team,” Perry said in his message.

“For many years, our in-house team has supported the daily needs of learners, employees, and guests, and the College is grateful for their longstanding service and continued commitment to the campus community.”