Elections & Referenda

Every year during the GSA General Election, graduate students at the University of Alberta cast votes to elect fellow graduate students to the GSA Directly-Elected Officer positions.

You can watch the Election Forum live-stream here 

2025 GSA General Elections Forum

GSA General Election

Every year during the GSA General Election, graduate students at the University of Alberta cast votes to elect fellow graduate students to the GSA Directly-Elected Officer positions: President, VP Academic, VP External, VP Student Life, and VP Student Services. For the 2025 General Elections, the GSA is introducing an additional VP role: the VP Indigenous Relations, focused on advocating for Indigenous graduate students and fostering cultural awareness within the University community. Concurrently, Academically-Employed Graduate Students (AEGS) vote to elect a graduate student to the GSA Directly-Elected Officer position of Associate VP Labour.

These seven student executives represent graduate students on committees and councils across campus and to all levels of government.

Graduate students also elect ten Councillors-at-Large, who sit on GSA Council and represent all University of Alberta graduate students.

Know more about the roles

GSA Referenda

GSA Referenda take place in years when graduate students are asked to vote on key issues. Past referenda have resulted in the implementation and/or continuation of graduate student services such as the GSA Health and Dental Plan, the Graduate Student Assistance Plan (GSAP), and the U-Pass program, as well as the creation of the GSA Dedicated Fee which enables graduate students to support the on-campus radio station, CJSR. Read the message from then-VP Student Services about the most recent GSAP and U-Pass Referenda.

2025 GSA General Elections Timeline

The 2025 GSA General Elections Timeline was approved by the GSA Chief Returning Officer (CRO) in consultation with the GSA Elections and Referenda Committee (GSA ERC). This timeline has been developed in accord with GSA Bylaw and Policy, Section I: Elections, which can be found here

Timeline
GSA Bylaw and Policy governs the Election and Referenda. If you have any questions, please contact the GSA Chief Returning Officer at gsa.elections@ualberta.ca

Nomination Forms for GSA Elections

Interested in running for a leadership role? You’ll find here the nomination forms for the upcoming elections. Please review the roles and responsibilities for each position before submitting your application. Here are the available positions.

1. Directly-Elected Officer (DEO) Roles: GSA President, Vice-President Academic, Vice-President External, Vice-President Student Life, Vice-President Student Services, Vice-President Indigenous Relations, and Associate Vice-President Labour.

2. Councilor-at-Large (CAL) Role: ten (10) positions to be filled.

How to Submit Your Nomination:

1. Download the appropriate nomination form.
2. Complete all sections of the form and gather the required signatures.
3. Submit your completed form by February 10, 2025, at 12:00 PM via one of the following methods:

In-Person Drop-Off: Bring your completed form to the GSA Office.
Email Submission: Send a copy of your completed form to gsacroff@ualberta.ca and gsaca@ualberta.ca.

DEO Nomination Form

Use this form to nominate yourself for a Directly-Elected Officer role.

CAL Nomination Form

Use this form to nominate yourself for the Councilor-at-Large position.

Archive

The results of previous GSA General Elections and GSA Referenda are available in the GSA Elections and Referenda Archive. A record of GSA Chief Returning Officer and GSA Speaker decisions and appeal decisions can also be found there.
Visit the Archive