New funding announcement brings some relief to universities, but still leaves Ontario at the bottom of the heap and increases student debt.
Thursday, March 26th, 2026
Ontario’s funding is entrenched in last place, so far behind that it would take more than a 45% increase to match the second-lowest funded province, Alberta. Increasing total university funding by of 13.5% per year for five years would bring per capita funding in Ontario to the national average… The data shows that there is record demand from Ontario secondary school students for an Ontario university education.
Tags: budget, Education, jurisdiction, participation, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Focus on Funding
Monday, June 30th, 2025
Ontario universities receive the lowest funding per domestic full time equivalent student (FTE) by far… Had Ontario funded its universities at the national funding average over the five years between 2018-19 and 2022-23, it would have provided its universities with an additional $11.9 billion in total university funding. Recent funding announcements… do not come close to addressing this funding gap. Ontario deserves better.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
MPPs Acknowledge Ontario Public Universities Require Additional Funding
Friday, November 15th, 2024
OCUFA maintains that public universities rely too heavily on international student tuitions, due to decades of underfunding from the provincial government… increasing provincial funding to universities by 11.75% per year for five years [would] bring Ontario in line with the Canadian average of per-student funding. Currently, Ontario’s per student funding is dead last in the country…
Tags: budget, economy, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
Ontario budget gets failing grade from university professors
Wednesday, March 27th, 2024
“Universities are in a crisis that the province manufactured through chronic underfunding.” … OCUFA was glad to see an extension of a freeze on tuition fees for postsecondary students, but the government did not invest in universities for this lost revenue, expecting universities to continue to do much more with much less… $1.3 billion for Ontario’s colleges and universities over the next three years… is eight times less than… OCUFA’s recommendation for university funding to reach just the Canadian funding average.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Ontario professors say new postsecondary funding a drop in the bucket
Wednesday, February 28th, 2024
“The deficits Ontario universities face are due to a manufactured crisis by the province due to chronic underfunding. And this new spending will keep Ontario’s universities dead last in per-student funding compared to every province in the country” … OCUFA is pleased to see a commitment to freezing tuition fees for domestic students, but noted there is no commitment to more direct funding for universities to make up for the loss in revenue from that freeze.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Ontario professors offer a blueprint for revitalizing public universities
Tuesday, February 6th, 2024
Ontario has the lowest per-domestic student funding level for universities in Canada… The government of Ontario’s disinvestment has led universities to look elsewhere for revenue, including sky-high international student tuition fees… said Jenny Ahn, OCUFA Executive Director. “The current state of affairs for Ontario universities is unsustainable. Our recommendations for the provincial budget provide a path forward for investing in public education.”
Tags: budget, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
After years of work, Ontario faculty say major victory achieved on protecting public universities
Wednesday, November 22nd, 2023
… the Federal government is reforming harmful corporate bankruptcy legislation—a crucial move that will protect public universities from corporate-style restructuring policies… “What happened at Laurentian should never have happened, and now we can ensure that it will not happen again to another public university in Canada.”… In 2022, Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk stated the CCAA/BIA process was an inappropriate method for dealing with the financial challenges of public institutions.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, rights
Posted in Education Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario university faculty and academic librarians give a failing grade to Ford’s election budget
Friday, April 29th, 2022
… the government admits it is likely to spend $685 million less on postsecondary education in 2021-22 than planned, as the Ford government ignores the needs of the sector and takes a free ride on the back of increased federal transfers. The money the Ford government is “saving” should not be going back into government coffers to be used for the many regressive tax credits included in this budget…
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Auditor General of Ontario finds Laurentian manufactured financial crisis, government ignored warning signs
Thursday, April 14th, 2022
… the university’s financial crisis resulted from secretive and deficient governance practices and the Ford government’s failure to step in and support the institution when its financial needs became clear. The Auditor General found that the use of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) was inappropriate and unneeded and that, instead, the university should have worked collegially… to address the institution’s financial challenges.
Tags: budget, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
French language programs at Laurentian should be restored following report exposing failures by university and Ford government
Friday, April 1st, 2022
… OCUFA is calling for the 28 French language programs cut by the university to be restored. Further, in recognition of its responsibilities to protect minority French speaking communities across the country, the Federal government should immediately pass legislation to ensure the CCAA and its counterpart, the Bankruptcy Insolvency Act, cannot be invoked by other public institutions who might use it to cut similar programs and services for French speaking populations.
Tags: budget, participation, rights
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
Recent Comments