Minimum Pay for Grad Students: the Resident Grad Student policy

[Gaps]

Hey grad students of GAPS!

It has come to the attention of the GAPS committee that some grad students aren't aware of the Resident Grad Student policy, and as such are getting paid less than the minimum guaranteed by TRIUMF! Read on to find out how to earn more money!

GAPS fought hard in 2019 to secure a Resident Grad Student (RGS) policy (see below) that secures minimum pay + extended benefits benchmarked to UBC for ALL grad students that work & live at TRIUMF for more than 4 months of the year (definition of RGS) to ensure everyone can afford to live in Vancouver. This minimum annual funding is:

  *   MSc: $20,000 [$1,666/month] + applicable benefits coverage + tuition and student fees - external tuition awards
  *   PhD: $24,000 [$2,000/month] + applicable benefits coverage + tuition and student fees - external tuition awards

That means you supervisor must pay you at least $20k/$24k per year after tuition is accounted for. On top of this, you also get applicable benefits including enrolment in the TRIUMF Extended Health Plan ($615/year) and $60 per month towards a transit pass (equivalent to U-pass reduction).

If you are getting paid less than this, then your supervisor is violating TRIUMF policy (big no no) and you should show them the RGS policy ASAP! Alternatively, if you don't feel comfortable having that discussion with your supervisor (very fair), you can contact Ian Doyle (idoyle at triumf.ca, he's in charge of payroll policy problems) or our Ombudsperson Grace Wong Sneddon (ombudsperson at triumf.ca) who can chat with your supervisor anonymously. It may just simply be that your supervisor doesn't know about the RGS policy.

Like all policy document the RGS policy can be found on docushare.triumf.ca.
Resident Grad Student policy: https://documents.triumf.ca/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-169622
RGS Implementation (ie min pay guidelines): https://documents.triumf.ca/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-171510

Final comment: we as a GAPS committee are aware that an annual stipend of $20k is below the poverty line in Vancouver. We are working with TRIUMF management to get these numbers increased annually with inflation, as currently they are benchmarked to UBC who are very much behind livable standards. Internally, both TRIUMF and UBC are well aware they need to increase grad student minimums, but the troubles with the CNSC re-licensing have been stealing all the focus recently. We will keep working hard to get everyone a livable wage.

Yours in solidarity with the bare minimum,
Your GAPS
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