1992
OPIRG Kingston is established.
1993
OPIRG Kingston is incorporated as a nonprofit charitable organization.
1996
Unherd, OPIRG Kingston’s zine series featuring hard-hitting critical analysis, is launched.
1999
The ReelOut Queer Film Festival becomes a working group.
2001
Canadian Network to End Sanctions on Iraq (CANESI), Central American Solidarity (CAS), GroundSwell, Wear Fair, Human Rights for Tamils, and Meatbusters (later known as Kingston Vegan Outreach) become working groups.
April 21, 2001
OPIRG Kingston helps organize transportation for about 200 people to get to the FTAA protest in Quebec.
June 5, 2001
Twenty volunteers successfully organize an action to draw attention to the attempts of a mining company to secure mining rights in a local conservation reserve at Mellon Lake.
September 2001
The Alt Frosh event series is created, and is put on annually to this day.
2002
Quattrocchi Community Garden, Kingston Community for Palestinian Human Rights, Radical Cheerleading, Revolutionary Knitting (later known as Radical Knitting Circle), Unified Networkers of Drug Users Nationally (UNDUN), Yellow Bike Action, Food Not Bombs Kingston, and Sustainable Spirit become working groups
2004
- Queen’s Against War and Victoria Park Community Garden become working groups.
- Yellow Bike Action splits off and becomes its own entity.
2005
- ReelOut becomes a separate entity from OPIRG Kingston, becoming registered as a nonprofit. It continues to run to this day.
- The People’s History Project begins.
- Friends of Marble Rock, Queen’s University Against Killer Coke, Solidarity Across Borders, Sunnyside Community Garden, and Curbside Theatre become working groups.
2006
- OPIRG Kingston successfully addresses a campaign against their student fee.
- The Unherd Zine is revived.
2007
- OPIRG Grants are established for individuals and groups.
- The OPIRG Kingston website is created.
- Alternative Jewish Voices, Community Urban Sustainability, Free Geek Kingston, Germinations, Kingston Urban Agriculture Action Committee (KUAAC), Queen’s Backing Action on Climate Change (QBACC, now known as Queen’s Backing Action on the Climate Crisis), and Radio 613 become working groups.
2009
- In collaboration with other organizations and food banks, OPIRG Kingston initiates a project to recover food from grocers and restaurants to be used in meal provider programs. This initiative later moves outside of OPIRG and becomes the program known as Loving Spoonful.
- Kingston Indigenous Solidarity Network, Elmwood Community Garden, and FRILL Community Garden become working groups.
2010
Downtown Action Revitalization Network, Bash Back Radio, and Queers: Indigenous and People of Colour become working groups.
May 2010
The Mayworks Festival of Labour and the Arts takes place.
Fall 2010
The Push It Hip Hop Festival is launched for the first time, and becomes an annual event for several years.
2011
- OPIRG Kingston is nearly removed from the Grey House, but manages to avoid eviction.
- Cataraqui Resistance School, Cinema Politica, and Information Transparency Project become working groups.
January 2012
Conservative students run a “NO-PIRG” campaign to rally students to vote against OPIRG Kingston’s undergraduate student fee, claiming that the organization does not provide benefit to students and harassing the coordinator. OPIRG Kingston loses its undergraduate student fee as a result, with 62% of referendum votes being against the fee.
November 2014
OPIRG Kingston hosts the Eastern Public Interest School, intended to create a space where people can learn critical skills to foster movements. Later, they also host the Fostering Campus and Community Movements Conference.
2015
- OPIRG Kingston loses its SGPS student fee, despite acquiring a 61.8% vote in favour. A policy change had required all opt-outable fees to secure a 2/3 majority vote for renewal.
- OPIRG Kingston supports two new research projects: the Kingston Community Garden Census, and We Believe in a Campus Free of Sexual Violence.
- A project called Out of the Archive and Onto the Streets transforms stories from the People’s History Project into posters and art with the help of a digital artist.
- A new group called Not Just Cisters begins running workshops to combat transmisogyny.
2016
A report on sexual violence on campus, from the We Believe in a Campus Free of Sexual Violence project, is released. The administration of Queen’s University adopts most of the recommendations within the report.
April 2016
The AMS terminates the agreement that allowed OPIRG Kingston to keep their office space in the Grey House. OPIRG Kingston ends up relocating to the AKA Autonomous Social Centre.
2017
- The People’s History Podcast begins early production.
- Roots and Wings becomes a working group.
March 2017
A two-day forum on the rise of the alt-right is organized, bringing together community organizers from across the province.
September 2017
The loss of the SGPS student fee and the costs of having to rent an office space result in financial struggles for OPIRG Kingston, leading to the cancellation of the fall semester’s Alt Frosh series.
2018
Unsettling the Commons and Kingston Coalition for Reproductive Justice become working groups.
March 2018
OPIRG Kingston runs two successful campaigns to get back their SGPS student fee, receiving support from communities on and off campus. The SGPS Council undoes the policy change and de-ratifies the referendum results to allow groups to run in a fair referendum. OPIRG Kingston receives a 69% vote in favour.
2020
Mutual Aid Gardens is created, and becomes a working group.
September 2020
The Queer Muslim Resistance Podcast begins.
2021
Umbrella Academy becomes a working group.
October 2022
The “No Cops on Campus” campaign begins, in response to the London Police recruiting students in the ARC on Queen’s campus.