Inspired by the successful organizing campaigns of the Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL) and the Association of McGill Professors of Education (AMPE), the Association of McGill Professors of the Faculty of Arts (AMPFA) was founded in November 2023 by the interim Executive Committee of President Catherine Leclerc (Départment des littératures de langue française), First VP Debra Thompson (Political Science), Second VP Sandra Hyde (Anthropology) Secretary Derek Nystrom (English), and Treasurer Jonathan Sterne (Art History and Communication Studies).

Over the next five months, a group of Arts professors and ranked contract academic staff met with their colleagues–in one-on-one conversations and in small group meetings–to discuss the merits of unionizing as a faculty. These discussions indicated the widespread desire for a union across the faculty. In early April 2024, AMPFA filed for certification with the Tribunal administratif du travail (TAT), submitting signed union cards from 61.9% of professors and ranked contract academic staff in Arts.

As they had with the other faculty unions, McGill’s administration sought to challenge AMPFA’s legal standing. A long battle in the courts seemed inevitable. However, as part of their first contract negotiations, AMPL went on strike, first from April to June 2024, and then again in August and September of the same year. As one of the conditions of ending their strike, AMPL demanded that the McGill administration drop all of its legal contestations of faculty unions. McGill agreed to this demand in October, and AMPFA was certified by the TAT in November 2024. It is currently the largest faculty union at McGill, representing roughly 350 professors and ranked contract academic staff.

In October 2024, AMPFA joined the newly struck Confederation of Faculty Associations of McGill University (COFAM), along with AMPL and AMPD. Two more unions have since joined COFAM: the Association of McGill Academic Staff of the School of Continuing Studies (AMASCS) and the Association of McGill Library Academic Staff (AMLAS). COFAM serves to guide negotiations between the faculty unions and the McGill administration on university-wide matters, while AMPFA negotiates faculty-specific issues with the Dean of Arts.