With the commencement of the Winter term, students and professors alike have attempted to adjust to an education with a lack of teaching assistant (TA) positions. Many courses in the Faculty of Arts that previously had at least one TA now have none, and professors have adapted to leading in-class conferences with anywhere from 40 to 80 students. Following the Quebec government’s changes to tuition policy, McGill has had to restructure its budgeting drastically throughout the 2025-2026 school year.
In a written statement to The Tribune, McGill’s Media Relations Office (MRO) emphasized the university’s continued commitment to providing excellence in education despite growing budget constraints.
“As is the case for many postsecondary institutions, McGill has had to make difficult decisions to balance its budget this year,” the MRO wrote. “McGill is working closely with its faculties to ensure it continues to meet its high standards of excellence while preserving the long-term financial stability of the University.”
The university itself does not set a budget for TAs; rather, each faculty decides the number of TAships based on its individual budget. The Faculty of Arts, McGill’s largest faculty, has committed to reducing TAships by 17 per cent, moving TAs to other positions or cutting their hours.
Political Science Professor Narendra Subramanian reported that his courses have undergone significant changes since McGill readjusted TA hiring. Two of Subramanian’s 400-level courses, previously capped at 80 students, were reduced to a cap of 50 students. These courses also had one TA each but now do not. Subramanian has thus had to reorganize the way he conducts his lectures in order to optimize student learning without the assistance of graduate employees.
Subramanian further explained how the cut to TA positions has affected lecture time.
“[It has] crucially [affected class]. [T]here are no conferences with about 20 students each where it is easier for students to speak,” Subramanian wrote. “I have to conduct these classes as an uneasy mix of lecture and discussion, which gives many shier students little effective room to speak/raise questions.”
Additionally, Subramanian mentioned the shift in assignment structure due to the loss of grading support, with many professors inclined to assign less time-consuming exercises or digital assignments rather than handwritten ones.
