On April 22nd, delegates to the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Council meeting voted to censure the Administration of the University of Toronto. This decision was taken in response to the Administration’s failure to resolve concerns regarding academic freedom stemming from the decision to abruptly halt the hiring of Dr. Valentina Azarova as Director of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law's International Human Rights Program.

Censuring the University of Toronto Administration means that, until the situation is satisfactorily resolved, CAUT members (which includes YUFA) are asked:

• not to accept appointments at the University;
• not to accept invitations to speak or participate in academic conferences held or hosted by the University; and,
• not to accept any distinction or honour that may be offered by the University.

Censure is a rare and extremely important sanction. It is a measure of last resort used only when we are faced with serious violations of academic freedom and other principles that are fundamental to higher education. This is only the third time since 1979 that CAUT has censured an institution, and the first since the censure of First Nations University over governance concerns in 2008.

For more information about censure, please see CAUT’s Procedures Related to Censure.

CAUT explains the decision in a press release on April 22, 2021.