At least half of Ontario universities are projecting budget deficits this year of a combined total of over $175M, a number that is only expected to grow higher.
As a result, the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) is calling on the provincial government to lift its tuition freeze and raise funding for post-secondary institutions by ten per cent.
Last week, the COU and the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) released a joint statement urging the province to implement the recommendations laid out in the Blue-Ribbon Panel Report released last November.
The report found that some Ontario universities are struggling with a number of financial difficulties due to major funding cuts.
“This situation is ever more likely to pose a significant threat to the financial sustainability of a major part of the province’s postsecondary sector,” the report read.
The report adds that universities are increasingly relying on international students’ tuition fees to remain afloat.
On Monday, the federal government announced that Canada will be putting a cap on how many international students are admitted to the country. For 2024, the government is expected to approve approximately 360,000 permits.
This comes as the country aims toward stabilizing and decreasing foreign enrollment for the next two years.
According to the report, Ontario universities are funded at only 57 per cent of the national average, which is considered the lowest per-student university funding in Canada.
Last year, University of Toronto (UofT) revealed the province provides approximately 20 per cent of the university’s operating budget, a rate that is again one of the lowest in the country.
“UofT is proposing that provincial funding increase to a level comparable to that of other large provinces. It also proposes allowing institutions to set their own tuition fees to recognize university autonomy and enhance U of T’s ability to respond to student demand for quality programs,” the university said in a press release.
In addition to UofT, Now Toronto also reached out to Wilfrid Laurier University, McMaster University and lastly, Queen’s University who declined to comment on the matter.
The COU says without government investment, universities are facing a bleak future, as the quality of education diminishes and demands continue to grow for much-needed student resources.
“The Ontario government’s underfunding of universities has forced cuts to student supports and services. To avoid more cuts, universities need investment in order to maintain and enhance the diverse programs, services and experiences that are important to students, such as mental health, career services, learning supports, extra-curricular/athletics programs and more,” the council said in a statement.
The funding crisis is a consequence of the Ford government’s 2019 move to eliminate the Liberal government’s free tuition program for low and middle-income students and instead, introduce a ten per cent in tuition fees for domestic students and freeze them at that level.
Now Toronto reached out to Ontario Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop for comment but has yet to receive a response.
“The Ontario government cut domestic tuition by 10 per cent and then froze it for the last four years, reducing the value of domestic tuition fee levels by 25 per cent. Due to the funding cap on domestic students, the Ontario government is not currently funding more than 20,000 domestic students, with an approximate cost to universities of $175 million,” the council explained.
In addition, the council notes that the Bill 124 fiasco and its repeal also had an substantial impact on universities of more than $345 million this year and $266 million a year over the next two years.
In response, a spokesperson for Ontario Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop says they are reviewing the report’s recommendations.
“At this time, we are carefully reviewing the blue-ribbon panel’s recommendations as we focus on creating a sustainable path forward. Included in this review is how tuition and funding for colleges and universities will proceed in the 2024-25 school year,” reads the statement to Now Toronto.
