Frequently Asked Questions

QPIRG-McGill is a student-run, student-funded social and environmental justice organization. QPIRG-McGill facilitates research opportunities for students that link them up with the broader Montreal community (through the Community Research Program, an alternative resource library, and funding for summer research projects). QPIRG-McGill also empowers students to take action: by funding and supporting 15+ working groups, who take on different social and environmental issues in Montreal and Canada. QPIRG-McGill aims to support our community by funding events on campus and in Montreal, by putting on popular education event series such as Spring into Action and Culture Shock, through organizing an alternative orientation (Rad Frosh), publishing School Schmool (an ad-free agenda and resource guide), and so much more!

QPIRG-McGill has been responsible for various important milestones on McGill campus such as initiating paper recycling in the 1990s, starting the first housing co-op for McGill students, and was integral in getting fair-trade coffee on campus.

Every McGill student who has not opted-out is a member of QPIRG-McGill because they pay a membership fee at the beginning of each semester with their tuition. QPIRG-McGill is run by our staff, board, and volunteers, who are both students and non-students.

Every year, at QPIRG’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), our 12-member Board of Directors is elected by the QPIRG membership (any student who has not opted-out of our fee, as well as QPIRG community members). The board, of which at least half are students, is responsible for making major decisions – such as granting discretionary funding and selecting working groups – and working towards the long-term vision of the organization determined by the membership. At the AGM, the membership also has the chance to voice concerns and emphasize priorities for the upcoming year. While the board makes many of the financial and structural decisions, and the staff keep the organization running day-to-day, our programming and operations are especially shaped by our many student volunteers, who serve on many of QPIRG’s committees.

QPIRG is funded primarily through an opt-outable student fee levy of $5.00 per student per semester. We receive some additional funding through our fundraising efforts, the Work Study system at McGill, and some government grants that fund student summer jobs.

Every year, QPIRG publishes an Annual Report, which includes a comprehensive financial report of what we’ve spent our funding on, as well as a summary of what we’ve accomplished over the last year.

This report is available each year at our Annual General Meeting (typically held in early April), and published online shortly after. To view our Annual Reports, click here.

All members are also welcome to reach out to QPIRG-McGill to learn more about what we do and the resources we provide.

As a member of QPIRG-McGill, you can vote in our Annual General Meeting and run for the Board of Directors. You have access to a plethora of benefits, including:

• our photocopier and printer
• meeting space (QPIRG has two main meeting rooms available to any QPIRG member); 
• opportunities to be published or receive class credit for meaningful research (student members are welcome to participate in the Community Research Program);
• support for your projects (QPIRG provides funding for one-time projects as well as for more sustained projects through Working Group funding); 
• an alternative library(we have over one thousand titles, including books, journals, magazines, DVDs and videos);
• training (our board, staff and working group members offer specific training on organizational management, media trainings, and a variety of workshops); 
• jobs (QPIRG McGill hires work study students every year to coordinate the library, the CURE project, and help with campus outreach, as well as students in the summer to coordinate Rad Frosh and School Schmool);
• educational events (we invite all our members to attend educational events we organize, such as Culture Shock, Spring into Action, and more!)
• the opportunity to get involved by volunteering with one of our committees, which provide valuable skills in areas such as event planning, outreach, non-profit structures, and accessibility

Non-students can become members as well! Learn more on our membership page.

From the very early days, students felt that that it was important that PIRGs should be independent from student unions, and PIRGs across the country have maintained this structure. The most central reason for this is that PIRGs have a mandate to bring the university community together with the greater Montreal community, whereas the primary responsibility of student unions is to their students. It is of vital importance to us that our space, resources, and support are available to SSMU students, PGSS students, and non-students alike, and this is what allows for students and community members to actually work together. Most of this work would be impossible under the restrictive funding and space use policies of the SSMU and the PGSS.

Put simply, there is just way too much going on at QPIRG not to have staff! We have hundreds of actively involved members, 20 working groups, a library, a community research program, multiple publications, 3 major event series throughout the year, and ongoing training and development programs for student organizations. We simply could not maintain this work on a purely volunteer basis, and we certainly could not also meet our legal and financial responsibilities as a non-profit, such as preparing for an annual audit, meeting the criteria for incorporation, and managing the organization’s insurance. In fact, one of our biggest problems is being severely understaffed– having three full time staff for that amount of work is vastly insufficient.

Though the direction of the organization is decided by members of QPIRG-McGill, the staff are the ones who carry out these decisions and do all the hard behind the scenes work of making these events happen, and these programs function! This includes our three full-time staff, and a number of part-time student staffers!

As an organization committed to social justice, we also believe that this commitment extends to how we treat our employees. To begin, that means we believe that our staff should be paid a “living wage”, that is, a wage that brings them above the poverty line. Minimum wage does not pay enough for an adult to live above the poverty line in Montreal. As well, many of our staff are paid through grants such as Young Canada Works, Emploi Quebec, McGill Work Study, and Canada Summer Jobs.

McGill students value a diverse and lively campus community. Students recognize that education is more than what you learn in class – it’s about the people you meet and the experiences you have. From our programs (like Rad Frosh and Spring into Action) to our projects, QPIRG is an important part of campus life and an important home and resource to many, many students.