Behind the AMS: Actioning Affordability

University is expensive. That is not news to any of us.

Tuition and fees are only part of the equation. There’s rent, groceries, textbooks, transportation, and all the smaller expenses that add up. For many students, the question isn’t whether university costs too much. It’s sbout what we can actually do about it.

That’s a question we have been asking ourselves at the AMS.

In our Winter 2026 Student Experience Survey, 54% of respondents ranked tuition costs, ancillary fees, and financial aid amongst their top 3 advocacy priorities. Students are telling us that affordability matters. Our responsibility is to listen, and to act.

That brings me to a bigger question: how should we measure the success of a student government?

Is it how many policies we pass? How many coffees we serve? How many job applications we process?

Those numbers matter, but they don’t tell us about what we are doing for you

Our student government is by students, for students. How we measures success should look at the outcomes students actually experience.

Are we creating more paid opportunities for students? Are we making the things we sell more affordable? Are we helping you find resources that can reduce your expenses? Is our advocacy actually changing something?

Put it more simply: are we actually making student life better?

That question has shaped how Team DAE approaches affordability.

Building on what came before us

The AMS has been investing in student life for generations

In 1902, we contributed to the construction of Grant Hall, in 1968, we supported Kingston Student Housing and in 2010 we invested in the redevelopment of the JDUC. Different generations faced different challenges, but there has always been something in common, students investing in the benefit of other students.

However, the pressures students face have changed. Rent has changed. Grocery bills have changed. The way students find resources has changed.

Our approach has to change too.

If a student discount exists, you should be able to find it

There are student discounts all over. The problem is that it’s hard to find them

We are trying to change that.

We’re developing a Student Savings Dashboard on the AMS website to bring verified student discounts into one place.

We are also working with the Kingston BIA on student discount window decals, so you can identify participating businesses simply by walking down the street.

We are providing students with access to SPC+ membership through an AMS code and reaching out directly to local and national businesses to identify the discounts available to Queen’s students.

None of these initiatives will solve the affordability crisis.

But they will provide an opportunity for you to save money, we want to make it easier for you to save many.

Sometimes, the best price is free

Saving money isn’t about finding a 10% discount.

Sometimes it means borrowing something instead of buying it, getting support before a problem becomes an expensive one, knowing that a free resource exists.

That thinking is behind our newly launched Resource Hub.

Here, students can access free menstrual products, equipment borrowing, laptop rentals, the SIC Equity Library, the Collective Closet, the Earth Centre, and Greenovations.

Students can also access housing and academic support through the Housing Resource Centre and Academic Affairs Centre, two areas where students reported financial pressures

Good ideas should not stop because of money

Some of the best solutions to affordability will come directly from the students who experience these challenges every day.

Team DAE’s Student Innovation Grant provides funding for students to pursue projects focused on affordability, accountability, and engagement. Theres also the Alumo Student Initiative Fund, creating another way for studentled projects to receive financial support.

This builds on a broader priority for the AMS, getting funding into the hands of students and student groups who can put it to work.

We have also increased funding for financial-aid and created the Campus Safety and Safe Travel Bursary to help address another cost students can face.

Supporting affordability does not always mean the AMS needs to run the program ourselves. Our role is also to give students the resources to build something better.

Saving money matters. Knowing how to manage it matters too.

Having access to reliable information and support can help make navigating your finances easier.

That is why we are partnering with CIBC to offer financial literacy workshops and working with the Peer Support Centre to provide tax clinics.

Taxes might not be the most exciting part of life. But making sure you file correctly and receive the refunds and benefits you are eligible is important.

We are also trying to increase awareness of the financial planning and career support available through the Student Assistance Program provided in partnership with Alumo.

The goal isn’t just to help you spend less. It’s to make financial resources and information easier to access.

Thinking of the future

This year, Team DAE established the Social Development Fund to leverage investment returns toward projects that benefit the student community.

Funding has already been approved for a move-in and move-out program, expanded community gardens, and additional support for the equipment borrowing program.

The fund also creates a safeguard for essential student programming, grants, and resources when they experience financial threats.

We want our existing resources to work harder for students, while protecting the services students rely on.

Some problems are bigger than the AMS

There’s a limit to everything I just described.

A student government cannot discount its way out of a housing crisis. A tax clinic cannot control tuition. An equipment borrowing program cannot replace adequate financial aid.

Some challenges require systemic change.

That;s where advocacy comes in.

At the AMS, we continue to scrutinize proposals that want increase reliance on student fees. We are also advocating for improved housing conditions and for the careful consideration of long-term financial aid investments as the University responds to the impacts from Bill 33.

I also submitted the AMS’s federal budget recommendations to the Minister of Finance and attended the Senate Youth Caucus to bring forward student priorities. Our federal submission focused on four areas: student employment, housing affordability, student financial aid, and funding for Indigenous students.

We wont be able to control every decision made by Queen’s, Kingston, Ontario, or Canada.

But we can make sure students are in the room and are heard when those decisions are being made.

So, what does success look like?

There is no single program, policy, or student government that can solve student affordability.

But that cant be an excuse to do nothing.

We can advocate. We can create jobs. We can make services more affordable. We can help you find discounts. We can provide free resources. We can fund student ideas. We can invest strategically. And when an issue is outside our direct control, we can use our collective voice to push the people who do have that control.

The AMS is by students, for students. That means our work should ultimately be judged by what it does for students.

So when I think about how we should measure our success, I keep coming back to the same questions.

Are students better supported?

Are we reducing financial barriers where we can?

Are students better positioned to make the most of their time at Queen’s?

Policies passed, applications processed, and services delivered tell part of the story.

The impact you actually feel should tell the rest.