The AMS’ budget is falling short of projections, with recent financial figures suggesting lower student engagement with services than expected.
Announced in an updated report on the AMS’ finances during the Corporate Annual General Meeting on March 24, Vice-President (Operations) Elena Nurzynski explained that between May 1, 2025, and Jan. 31 of this year, the Society ran a $852,202 deficit. This nine-month check-in figure is already over $300,000 higher than what the AMS originally projected to end the year at.
READ MORE: AMS projects a $514,412 deficit for the 2025-26 year
Nurzynski, along with AMS President-elect and current Board of Directors Chair Dreyden George, sat down with The Journal to discuss what’s leading to the current financial picture, and why it differs from the projections.
The pair explained that much of the discrepancy between the budget and the current financial state reflects the outdated data the AMS had access to when creating their budgets.
Of the $852,202 deficit, $570,777 can be attributed to the newly revitalized Queen’s Pub (QP), which initially projected a $13,382 year-end surplus at the beginning of the year. Nurzynski said this projection was made using five-year-old data—when the pub was last open—but things have changed since then.
“There were some factors that were unknown. Student drinking patterns on campus, how Queen’s alcohol policy would impact our pub operations, how the pub would financially compete against off-campus competitors, these were things that we couldn’t necessarily predict until we saw our first year actually open and operating,” Nurzynski said.
George explained that QP’s financial difficulties became clear at the end of October, as the Board didn’t want to judge the summer months or the beginning of the school year too harshly. Once identifying there was an issue, the Board brought forward its concerns in November, leading QP to begin employing cost-cutting measures. These included adjusting the hours of staff, working to get better deals with vendors, and saving on other miscellaneous expenses.
“We are evaluating the business model on an ongoing basis and making sure that this is a business that makes sense for the AMS to have, and that it’s one that students want and feel good about having on campus,” Nurzynski said.
She added that there’s been increased engagement with the Food Bank, which suggests student wallets in general may be tighter, leaving less room for extra spending.
Aside from external factors, George highlighted there are still “soft goals” the AMS can undertake to tackle the deficit, including working to increase QP’s presence on campus, considering improvements to how the Pub’s physical space looks, and other factors within their control.
In addition to QP, clothing store Society 58, formerly known as Tricolour Outlet, also underperformed its projections. Expecting a $19 surplus at the end of April, the service has veered off its expectations and is in a $72,000 deficit as of Jan. 31.
Nurzynski explained this deficit was due to an expectation of increased sales that ultimately didn’t materialize. They projected this sales increase given their new location on campus, moving from a garage tucked near the bottom of campus into the JDUC, which is located near student hot-spots such as the ARC and Stauffer Library.
“We were optimistic that [our new space] was going to draw higher foot traffic to our service, and we had high expectations with our sales. They didn’t materialize the way that we were anticipating,” Nurzynski said.
George added that the biggest declines have been in clothing and merchandise sales, but said lower supplier and delivery costs have helped offset much of the revenue loss, leaving Society 58’s overall financial picture healthier than QP’s.
AMS-run coffee shop CoGro is also projecting an increased deficit. As of Jan. 31, the service is in a $92,441 deficit, down from the $559 surplus projection at the beginning of the year.
The pair explained that the reopening of The Brew likely shifted some customer traffic and sales away from CoGro, and there wasn’t enough reliable historical data to budget accurately for how the two services would perform separately. Before The Brew closed in 2020, both operations shared one budget, so this was the first year in five years that they were running side by side under a different budget structure.
On a broader note, Nurzynski admitted that they had “an aggressive budget” this year, but explained they now have much more solid data to go off of moving forward.
“We’ve gotten a better understanding of student spending habits, how students interact with the pub, and what events students are interested in seeing. […] I’m definitely optimistic that next year’s budget will inevitably reflect a more realistic budget model than, maybe necessarily, what we have for this year,” Nurzynski said.
The update wasn’t all bad for the AMS, though.
The Orientation Roundtable (ORT) portfolio actuals were under budget by roughly $70,000, largely due to cost-saving measures surrounding uniforms, room rentals, and staff training.
The AMS also ended up receiving more in investment returns than expected. George explained the AMS had budgeted for about $348,000 in returns, but by Jan. 30, their actual market returns were $934,986. With this revenue, the AMS ran a $82,784 surplus from May to January when the deficit was subtracted.
He explained this was mainly because foreign market returns were stronger than expected, and those are especially hard to predict because they depend not just on how investments perform, but also on currency exchange rates when money is invested outside Canada.
As a result, the stronger-than-expected returns helped offset the operating deficit and turned the AMS’s overall financial position into a net surplus rather than a net deficit as of Jan. 31.
Tags
AMS Operating Budget, budget deficit, The Queen's Pub
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