Update on Pension Fund Divestment
June 23, 2026At the 2024 MUNFA Extraordinary General Meeting, ASMs passed a motion directing the MUNFA Executive Committee to pursue divestment of the Memorial University Pension Fund from the State of Israel and from companies materially implicated in sustaining war crimes.
The Executive instructed the MUNFA Pension Committee to develop a motion for the University Pensions Committee, the body that oversees the Fund. The University Pensions Committee is a large body made up of many different employee groups and University representatives. MUNFA holds one-third of its seats, the largest single share of any group but well short of a majority, which means MUNFA cannot pass a motion there on its own, and any decision to divest the Fund requires the support of other groups on the Committee.
The Committee proceeded in stages, beginning in early 2025 with a motion simply to gather information on the cost and feasibility of divestment, an effort that met repeated procedural obstacles.
MUNFA’s Pension Committee then resolved to bring a full divestment motion directly to the University Pensions Committee. At the meeting on May 11, 2026, the following motion was put to the committee:
"that the University-wide Pension committee commit to ensuring the divestment of the Memorial University Pension fund from the State of Israel and all Israeli and international companies that sustain Israeli apartheid, war crimes and occupation."
The motion was defeated.
The Pension Committee is made up entirely of volunteers and we need more, so if you would like to help shape MUNFA's work on the pension, or if you have questions or concerns you want raised at the University Pensions Committee level, please contact the MUNFA office at munfa@mun.ca.
