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The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) is the largest student organization in Canada. Founded in 1981, the CFS works for high quality, accessible post-secondary education at the federal level and provincial levels (in the provinces in which it has sections). It represents over 500,000 full-time and part-time students from eighty college and university students' unions across the country.

History

The Federation was formed in the early 1980s from two organizations NUS and AOSC in an effort to create a united student movement in Canada that was both national and provincial and that provided political representation and student-oriented services.

Several student governments left the CFS in the early 1990s expressing displeasure over the organization's political stances, particularly its opposition to the Gulf War, and its involvement in other issues, which some argued were outside the purview of student politics. As well, several of the student governments who left argued that the CFS's advocacy of "zero tuition" was unrealistic, and its emphasis on organizing political demonstrations rather than lobbying governments was detrimental. Student Resources > College Students.

In 1995, the Canadian Alliance of Students Associations was formed by several student governments dissatisfied with CFS. CASA today has 18 member organizations. They also claimed the CFS was too busy promoting other campaigns, instead of fighting rising tuition, and felt that CFS was an ineffective organization, not serving the needs of students. [1] Since then, the CASA and CFS have not been on the best of terms, spliting student representation in Canada effectively in two. [2] In addition, CFS has been accused of being too close to the New Democratic Party (NDP).