Ontario is expected to announce funding increases for post-secondary institutions

Ontario's Minister of Colleges and Universities is expected to announce funding for post-secondary institutions today

A government-commissioned report released in November said low levels of provincial funding to colleges and universities, along with tuition cuts and freezes in 2019, pose a "significant threat" to the sector's financial sustainability.
   Funding for government-aided colleges for full-time domestic students is at a lower level than in any other province, the report said, while the Council of Ontario Universities said at least 10 universities are facing operating deficits.

The panel recommended a one-time, 10 percent increase in per-student funding to colleges and universities, followed by inflation-adjusted increases in subsequent years, as well as a five percent increase in tuition and raises for students.

Premier Doug Ford has previously ruled out any tuition hikes, but Colleges and Universities Minister Jill Dunlop is due to make an announcement today.

Dunlop's announcement comes as post-secondary institutions recently said their situation worsened following a federal announcement earlier this year to reduce the number of visas for international undergraduate students, with Ontario's share halved. .

A report released last year by Hier Education Strategy Associates said Ontario's post-secondary budget is "abysmal" and that raising spending to the average of the other nine provinces would require $7.1 billion a year in additional funding — well above current budget levels. Operating about 5 billion dollars

"No province has ever underfunded postsecondary education, and no provincial institution has found more ways to raise money from private sources," the strategy firm wrote.

"On the basis of each student, the province finances universities with 57% of the average of the other nine provinces; in the academic sector, this figure is only 44%. In every comparison between provinces, it ranks tenth out of ten."

Low levels of government funding have led post-secondary institutions to increasingly charge international student fees that are much higher than Canadian student rates.

The auditor general said in a 2022 report that average university fees in 2020-21 were $7,938 for domestic students and $40,525 for international students.

The Smart Prosperity Institute, a think tank based at the University of Ottawa, reported last year that Ontario universities nearly doubled international student enrollments between 2014-2015 and 2021-2022, and colleges more than tripled international enrollments.

An Ontario government-commissioned report on post-secondary finance says international student income is now critical to the sector's viability, greatly increasing the risk to institutions.

This report was first published by the Canadian Press on February 26, 2024.


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