Nominations Period

Nominations Open March 4, 2024
Nominations Close March 12, 2024 at 1:00 p.m.

This is the period where a candidate can submit a nomination form through the online portal or to the SA Connect office. The nomination form must be received by 1:00 p.m. eastern time when the nominations close.


Campaign period

Campaigning opens March 14, 2024 

This is the period where candidates can openly campaign in the elections. Campaigning must conform to the election rules as outlined in the Elections by-law and regulations made under the Elections Policy.


Voting Period

Voting Starts March 21, 2024 at 9:00 a.m.
Voting Ends March 28, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.

The days the membership votes for their Student Association Executive, Board of Directors, and the Student Governor. Voting starts at 9:00 a.m. on the first day of voting and ends at 5:00 p.m. on the last day. Election results are posted at around 6:00 p.m. on the last day of voting on the SA website and Instagram.

The Election Cycle runs from March 4 to March 28. The process does take some time to do things like campaign, put up posters, run social media campaigns and other election related tasks.  There are very few mandatory events which occur during the election campaign period, you will be informed about these events in advance. 

  • Director of Student Experience
  • Director of Education & Equity
  • Educational Centre Representatives:
    • Arts, Design and Information Technology Educational Centre Representative
    • Business Educational Centre Representative
    • Community Services and Early Childhood Educational Centre Representative
    • Construction and Engineering Technologies Educational Centre Representative
    • Health Sciences Educational Centre Representative
    • Hospitality and Culinary Arts Educational Centre Representative
    • Preparatory and Liberal Studies Educational Centre Representative

To be nominated for these positions you must file a nomination form before the deadline for nominations.  The nomination form contains information about you and the position you are running for.  The nomination form is can be filed using the electronic form available at https://www.studentassociation.ca/elections/ or a paper form available from the SA connect offices. 

The form includes endorsement signatures.  Theses are signatures of student who wish you to run for these office. Every position requires a different amount of endorsement signatures:

  • Director of Education and Equity – 30 signatures
  • Director of Student Experience – 30 signatures
  • Education Centre Representative – 10 signatures

A summary of the position is as follows:

  • is the official spokesperson of the Student Association to the general public, George Brown College, campus groups, and at college functions and monitor all Board of Directors personnel files and related HR documents at the head office of the corporation.
  • is a signing officer for cheques and contracts for the Student Association; and
  • coordinates the work of the Board of Directors and the Annual General Meeting. 

Everyone’s experience in these positions is a little different, however the most common benefits for your career which you can get out of this position are:

  • Home business management and communication skills;
  • Network with leaders within and outside the college; and
  • Gain important understanding of the integral operations of a large organization.

The position receives a remuneration of $17 per hour for a 28-hour work week.

A summary of the position is as follows:

    • reviews financial information including the monthly financial statement of the corporation, the annual budget, the annual audit and makes recommendations to the Board of Directors on those documents as appropriate.
    • reviews sponsorship requests and makes recommendations to the executive on those requests; and
    • is a signing officer for cheques and contracts for the Student Association

Everyone’s experience in these positions is a little different, however, the most common benefits for your career which you can get out of this position are:

    • Budget Management
    • Leadership Skills
    • Communication Skills

The position receives a remuneration of $17 per hour for a 28-hour work week.

Before the pandemic signatures in person were required for all nominations. Now that George Brown College is returning to normal operations in a hybrid fashion, the requirement for in person or electronic signatures have returned.  While the temporary process of electronic process through the online voting system which was used during the pandemic was useful for the purpose during the pandemic, however it had several flaws including putting the pressure on ensuring completed nomination forms on the elections officials, and not the candidates.   

You do not need previous experience to run, but it can be helpful. Certain life experiences will serve you well during elections: for example, if you served in a high school student council, or you’re a leader in group work assignments, you already have experience which you can use for these roles.

No, there are no qualifications necessary to run for these offices.  Board and Executive members comes from many different backgrounds and many different programs.

For Executive positions, any student can run for these positions, subject to a few legal qualifications.
If you are running for an Educational Centre Representative position, you must be enrolled as a student in the centre you wish to represent. You must be enrolled as of September 2024.

For Executive members the tasks can vary.  Some days an Executive member will meet with senior staff at the Student Association about issues such as human resources, finances, and insurance; while another day they might be making a speech for a lunch of hundreds of people at a George Brown College event; while on another day they could be greeting students at an Orientation week event.

 

The work schedule is flexible, please see the position description for the various positions for the required work week.  The Student Association operates during business hours, and there is a requirement for members of the executive to be in the office during the business hours of the Student Association. 

Yes, during the month of May, every member of the Board and Executive receives comprehensive training in their role and the function and roles of the Student Association. 

Students should not expect a significant impact on their courses if they are elected to a position. As a member of the board, their academic studies come first.

Under the by-laws you are eligible to be a candidate if you meet the following conditions:

  • Be a member (either a full time student or current Board member);
  • Be at least 18 years of age as of the date of ratification; and
  • Not be deemed ineligible to manage the property under various federal or provincial statutes, including being bankrupt;
  • Not be currently employed by the Corporation in any role’; 

*if you are employed by the corporation, you will be placed on an unpaid leave of absence during the campaign and deemed to resign from part-time/full-time employment from Student Association upon election.

You can campaign, subject to several rules, either on campus or online.  The full details of how to campaign is covered during the all candidates meeting.  

The spending limits for the campaigns are as follows:

  • Executive Positions $300
  • Educational Centre Representatives $75

The Election will be conducted online using the Simply Voting System.  Every eligible elector will use their GBC log in to vote, and the elector must use these credentials to log into the voting system and cast their vote.

 

The electronic system calculates the ballots at the close of voting, and the Chief Returning Officer will publish the results. 

Any full time post-secondary student can vote for any executive position.

Simply Voting is an online voting platform which uses high level of technology to ensure that the election is as safe as possible.  While no online platform is 100% secure, Simply Voting is tested and secure, and have been used in thousands major elections for the non-profit, municipal, and other public sector organizations.