McMaster’s approximately 30,000 full-time undergraduate students will vote next week to elect their 2026–27 student union president. There are nine candidates running.
This is good news for the City of Hamilton’s finances because the HSR universal pass fee referendum is running concurrently and the increased attention of the presidential race should ensure the referendum reaches its 10 per cent minimum participation threshold.
In 2023, the UPass referendum nearly failed due to lower student voter turnout. Only 10.5 per cent of students voted on the UPass. If 128 fewer students had cast ballots, the renewal would’ve failed and the HSR would’ve lost nearly $7-million per year in much needed revenue.
The McMaster UPass alone accounted for approximately 10 per cent of HSR fare revenue in 2018. Overall HSR fare revenue has declined since 2019, while at the same time enrolment at McMaster has increased.
UPass revenue is now over $7.5-million. If lost, City Council would need to increase property taxes by approximately 0.5 per cent.
Adding to the critical importance of the mandatory fee being renewed every three years, under Ontario’s current post-secondary student fee regulations, the mandatory UPass is a non-permitted grandfathered fee. Any future UPass agreement would be required to permit students to opt-out of the fee, ultimately defeating the purpose.
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v. 1.0.0
Published: January 23, 2026
Last updated: January 23, 2026
Author: Joey Coleman
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