From: Heather Boon, Vice-Provost, Faculty & Academic Life
Date: May 14, 2026
Re: Faculty and Librarian Performance Evaluation and Merit Process for 2025-26 (PTR/5% Merit) (PDAD&C #41)

Further to the update from May 08, 2026 regarding bargaining between the University and the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA), this memo contains important information concerning payment of July 01, 2026 PTR/Merit increases and implementation.   

Both the PTR and 5% merit awards are based on the performance assessment for the 2025-26 assessment year. (See the Academic Salary Administration section of the AAPM for details.) Units should initiate the merit assessment process as normal. Written feedback from the current assessment process must be received by faculty members and librarians by July 1, 2026.  

PTR Mechanism for the Calculation of Merit Pools  

The University and UTFA have agreed that Merit (PTR and 5%) will be calculated using the PTR model that was used for the payment of July 2025 PTR, i.e., PTR pools are generated solely from the salary pools above and below the breakpoint.    

Please refer to the July 1, 2026 PTR breakpoints and increments found on the Salary Ranges table of the AAPM.   

5% Merit Pool  

Recommendations with respect to 5% Merit Pool awards in multi-department Faculties should be forwarded to the Dean in line with instructions that will be provided by the Dean’s Office.  

Deans of single-department Faculties will receive a memo with specific timelines for submission of their recommendations for the 5% Merit Pool shortly and should plan to finalize them by June 8, 2026. They should be submitted to Anna Pralat, Office of the Vice-Provost, Faculty & Academic Life (anna.pralat@utoronto.ca). Confirmation will be provided by June 25, 2026. 

Further information concerning the merit (PTR/5% merit) process is available in the AAPM.  

ATB Increases  

Further communication about the processing of July 01, 2026 ATB will be provided following the Arbitration award.  

Salary Letters 

Salary letters that include information about PTR and ATB do not need to be provided to faculty members or librarians by June 30, 2026. We anticipate having more information about the timeline for issuing salary letters by mid-June. In the event ATB is paid in July, units should be prepared to issue salary letters by no later than July 28, when that ATB increase is paid out. 

The revised salary letter template will be available as soon as possible. 

Reminder: If written feedback from the current assessment process for faculty members and librarians  is normally included in the salary letter, it should be provided as a separate communication, including the basis for evaluation in each of the components of the appointment (e.g., the criteria for evaluation; points or scale where used) in line with PDAD&C #53. Please see the AAPM for more information by July 1, 2026. 

Histograms  

For Dean’s Office Academic HR colleagues, a July 1, 2026 PTR Histogram may be accessed from the Office of the Vice-Provost, Faculty & Academic Life Portal PTR Section.   

Processing Instructions   

The full instructions regarding HRIS processing will be made available via the AMS listserv following the June 2026 monthly pay run and will provide details for July pay implementation.  

A further memorandum will be issued once the ATB salary increases are confirmed.