A legacy of student activism

Quebec’s student unions and federations are some of the most politically active and mobile student networks in the world. Since the first general student strike in 1968, national student federations have organized six more massive strikes in Quebec. Twenty-first century political activism in the province has largely become organized around the student associations of CEGEPs and universities, mobilized by national student federations. Although many of the unions and federations associated during the 2012 general strike—the latest in Quebec’s history—have disbanded, student unions and federations like the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) continue to mobilize their members in smaller ways around a myriad of political issues. In the sociopolitical landscape of post-2012 Quebec, student unions have become the primary vehicles for political mobilization.