Governing Documents

The SSMU is a not-for-profit corporation incorporated under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA), and is therefore subject to the rules and regulations set out under the Act. If you wish to learn more about this federal not-for-profit legislation, go to the Government of Canada’s website here.

SSMU is an accredited Student Union therefore it is recognized by the provincial authorities as the only organization representing the students. The main purpose of an association is to represent students and to promote their common interests, such as the administration of their educational institution. Such accreditation allows the SSMU to:

• State the institution’s obligations with regard to the association (the institution must provide the association with a room, bulletin boards, list of students)
• Have sole authority to appoint students to sit on the institution’s council and other committees
• Finance its activities because membership fees become compulsory for every person registered at the institution and represented by the association

If you wish to learn more about this provincial Act, check out the government of Quebec’s website here.

A Letters Patent is a document that outlines a corporation’s legal operations within the province of Quebec, such as how many legal administrators there are, the total amount of money the corporation can have, its mandate, and so on.

The Letters Patent of the then-named Student Center of McGill University  serves as the published written declaration of our status as a corporation. The Student Center of McGill University merged with the Students’ Society of McGill University in 2007.  

We are now known as the Students’ Society of McGill University and have been ever since 1999. It should be noted that the SSMU is still legally recognized as the Students’ Society of McGill University.

The Constitution of the Students’ Society of McGill University

The SSMU Constitution is a document that deals with all of the most fundamental elements of the Society. It also serves as SSMU’s legal “By-law” for the Quebec government in relation to SSMU’s status as a non-profit corporation (it is for this reason that we recently changed our By-laws to be known as Internal Regulations, per our legal counsel, as our Constitution is essentially our ‘By-law’ in the eyes of the Quebec government).

The Constitution outlines the SSMU’s role in providing service, leadership, and representation to McGill’s downtown undergraduates, the basic outline of the seven Executive positions, basic electoral processes, and various disciplinary processes. The Constitution can only be altered by Referendum.

After the Constitution, the Internal Regulations of SSMU are the highest level of regulation that exists within SSMU. The Constitution sets out broad principles through which the Society functions, and creates and defines the main organs of SSMU governance. Whereas general principles are included in the Constitution, the Internal Regulations create frameworks for their application. Internal Regulations can be changed by Council or General Assembly.

Operating Policies are drafted by the Board of Directors, these govern the day-to-day operations of the Students’ Union. They serve to provide direction to the SU bureaucracy in the execution of their respective roles.

Policies at the SSMU can be initiated by the Board of Directors, Legislative Council, or can be student Led.

This is the book containing all Policies of the SSMU Board of Directors.

Political policies are drafted by the Legislative Council, these direct the Executive Committee in their advocacy efforts. They set out the formal position of the Students’ Union on the political issues of the day. It then becomes the job of the Executive Committee to implement the political policies as they best see fit.Policies at the SSMU can be initiated by the Board of Directors, Legislative Council, or can be student Led.

This is the book containing all Policies of the SSMU Legislative Council.

A SSMU plan is a long-term plan with timelines and actionable items for advocacy and implementation for the SSMU, pertaining to a specific cause or issues. This is the book containing the outline of all ongoing SSMU Plans.

SSMU Positions provide general guidance for the advocacy priorities of the Society. Positions lay out the SSMU’s values regarding internal and external issues, and are kept until amended, superseded, or removed. The Internal Regulations of Governance outline the procedures for creating and amending positions. This is the book containing the outline of all official positions taken by the SSMU.

• Accessibility
• Affordable Student Housing
• Education
• Environment and Environmental Sustainability
• Ethics
• Equity and Social Sustainability
• Implementation of a Fall Reading Week
• Family Care
• Research
• Gender Equality
• Indigenous Equity
• Sexual Violence
• Student Life
• Wellness

All-Faculty Involvement Restriction Policy (“IRP”)

All-Faculty Involvement Restriction Policy (IRP) 2021

The SSMU and the Student Associations want to adopt a uniform policy to provide the Persons with an environment where everyone is treated with respect, dignity and fairness and where all forms of discrimination, violence (including sexual violence), psychological, sexual or other forms of harassment, disrespect, dignity violation and lack of fairness is prohibited.