The coalition of contingent academic labour is a floating conference and a network of North American activists working to improve higher education through collective achievement of job security, livable wages, academic freedom and time and resources for academic research and professional development for contingent academic laborers. COCAL promotes grassroots contingent faculty organizing through events like Campus Equity Week but is not affiliated with any single labor union. To achieve its aims, COCAL dedicates itself to learning about the broader community about the trends to undermine the tenets of higher education by staging media events, improving legislation governing funding and so called accountability efforts, and identifying colleagues at institutions and assisting them in forming collective bargaining units and winning strong contracts.

Theme of this year’s conference: The Next Five Years

• Casualization & globalization of labour
• Academic freedom
• Organizing strategies - from the local to the global

Canada

June 14, 2006

COUNTRY DESCRIPTION:  Canada is a highly developed stable democracy.  Tourist facilities are widely available except in northern and wilderness areas, where they are less developed and can be vast distances apart.  Read the Department of State Background Notes on Canada for additional information.

ENTRY/EXIT REQUIREMENTS:  All persons entering Canada may be required to present proof of citizenship and identity.  U.S. citizens are encouraged to show a U.S. passport.  If they do not have a passport, they should be prepared to provide a government-issued photo ID (e.g. Driver’s License) and proof of U.S. citizenship such as a U.S. birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or U.S. passport. 

U.S. citizens entering Canada from a third country must have a valid U.S. passport.  A visa is not required for U.S. citizens to visit Canada of up to 180 days.  Anyone seeking to enter Canada for any purpose besides a visit, (e.g. to work, study or immigrate) should contact the Canadian Embassy or nearest consulate prior to travel.  Anyone with a criminal record (including some misdemeanors such as Driving While Impaired (DWI) charges) may be excluded or removed from Canada, and should contact the Canadian Embassy or nearest Canadian consulate well in advance of any planned travel for further processing, which may take some time.

For further information on entry requirements, travelers may contact the Embassy of Canada at 501 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20001, tel. (202) 682-1740, or the Canadian consulates in Buffalo, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York or Seattle.  The Canadian Embassy’s website is: http://www.canadianembassy.org/.

See Entry and Exit Requirements for more information pertaining to dual nationality and the prevention of international child abduction.  Please refer to our Customs Information to learn more about customs regulations.  On the COCAL VI conference.  Attendees require an up-to-date passport or a certified birth certificate:  http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1082.html
And here's info on the conference.  http://www.caut.ca/cocal/default.asp