Information on NAIT & NASA Collective Bargaining Updates  

Update 4: Update on NASA mediation

Published on January 26, 2026

Over the last six days, including throughout the weekend, the NAIT bargaining committee and the NAIT Academic Staff Association (NASA) bargaining committee resumed negotiations with the assistance of a mediator.

At this time, NASA has not issued a 72-hour strike notice, NAIT remains open and fully operational, and classes and learning will continue as planned.

During this period of intensive bargaining, NAIT came to the table and provided meaningful solutions to address a broad range of issues raised by NASA, including instructor workload, the use of instructional assistant II’s, artificial intelligence, intellectual property, counsellor workload, benefits, wages, and vacation provisions.

Our Commitments

NAIT tabled a fair and reasonable proposal with students and employees at the centre of every consideration, reflecting a balanced, financially responsible approach and in alignment with 18 of 20 settled faculty agreements throughout Alberta with students and employees at the centre of every consideration. In this proposal, we have considered all feasible options to:

  • support our employees 

  • uphold academic quality

  • ensure a positive learning experience for students

  • protect the long-term sustainability of the institution and viability of programs

  • remain in alignment with recent post-secondary faculty settlements in Alberta

While significant progress was made on many topics, discussions paused Sunday evening after NASA was unwilling to engage in further discussion regarding a proposed solution relating to Instructional Assistant II’s (IA 2s).

What you need to know about Instructional Assistant 2s

  • NAIT currently employs 33 instructional assistants and approximately 1150 NASA members.

  • Since IA 2s were introduced as an employee category at NAIT in Spring 2023, the number of NASA members has grown by approximately 100 members.

  • IA 2’s are a valued member of the educational delivery team.

Moving forward

NAIT remains ready to return to the bargaining table with a shared commitment to meaningful discussion, with the continued assistance of a mediator, to resolve the outstanding issues and avoid disruption to the learning environment.  

NAIT believes it is important that NASA members clearly understand the proposals on the table.

We encourage NASA members to seek information from their bargaining representatives about the outstanding issues.

We recognize that this process may create uncertainty for employees, students, and the broader community. Student Counselling remains open and available to book appointments through counselling@nait.ca or the Student Counselling web form. Staff may access the NAIT Employee Assistance Program for counselling support, and have access to Headversity, a mental wellness web-based platform.

NAIT will continue to share timely updates at nait.ca/bargaining as the situation evolves.

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