Ontario got two things right with post-secondary funding — and one thing very wrong
Saturday, February 21st, 2026
Increasing tuition and provincial funding will improve the financial conditions facing colleges and universities. However, shifting OSAP from majority grants to loans will make it harder for students, particularly those most economically disadvantaged, to attend, persist, and graduate. There are other, more equitable pathways forward.
Tags: budget, Education, ideology, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Getting rid of school board trustees is the right thing to do
Saturday, February 21st, 2026
Calandra’s stated goal is to restore solvency and stability — fiscal and pedagogical — to the system. The minister has catalogued a litany of unauthorized budget deficits, implausible fiscal plans, botched agendas for staff and students, and classroom funding sacrificed for pet projects or fanciful causes. Opposition critics suggest Calandra has a hidden agenda to disempower trustees.
Tags: Education, ideology, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Doug Ford’s changes to university funding is good news for universities and terrible news for poor students
Wednesday, February 18th, 2026
Ontario will still be tenth out of ten provinces for per-student funding. But Thursday’s announcement will bring public funding back roughly to its previous all-time high of about $8.5 billion per year. Some of the $5.3 billion is genuinely new. But over 50 per cent of the new money going to universities and colleges is being reallocated from within the Ministry — specifically, by taking about $700 million/year away from… OSAP
Tags: budget, Education, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, poverty
Posted in Education Policy Context | No Comments »
There are realistic solutions to our growing mental health crisis
Wednesday, February 18th, 2026
In primary care, mental health concerns account for roughly one-in-five visits to family physicians in Canada and most primary care practices in Ontario do not have embedded mental health professionals. Too often, patients leave with a referral, not support, and join another wait-list… A mental health system that waits for crisis is not care… We must find new ways to invest in early, visible and embedded support.
Tags: jurisdiction, mental Health, multiculturalism, youth
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Doug Ford has learned a hard lesson after starving Ontario’s colleges and universities
Thursday, February 12th, 2026
This week’s boost will not come close to making colleges and universities whole, but a half loaf is better than the premier’s half-baked ideas on postsecondary funding. Tuition can now rise by up to two per cent a year, but for too long the government ignored the initial five per cent increase recommended by its own blue ribbon panel in 2023, alongside fresh funding.
Tags: budget, economy, Education, jurisdiction
Posted in Education Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario needs more psychologists. These changes finally address the long-standing obstacles to care
Thursday, February 12th, 2026
Across Canada, other provincial and territorial regulators have safely relied on shorter, well-designed supervision periods for many years. Ontario already recognizes psychologists trained under these models through Canadian labour mobility rules that require provinces and territories to register professionals who are already registered elsewhere in Canada, even if their training followed different, shorter, timelines.
Tags: Education, jurisdiction, mental Health
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Why Ontario’s measles outbreak highlights our need for a vaccine registry
Thursday, February 12th, 2026
Ontario’s measles outbreak has laid bare how vulnerable we are without the essential tools needed to know who is protected and who is not…The solution is clear — and it’s not a crumpled yellow vaccine card. Ontarians need… a comprehensive immunization registry… a secure, province-wide system that’s accessible from family doctors’ offices to ERs across the province.
Tags: Health, jurisdiction, participation, pharmaceutical, standard of living, youth
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario lifts tuition freeze, unveils OSAP reforms as it adds billions to university and college funding
Thursday, February 12th, 2026
The province is pouring $6.4 billion into colleges and universities over the next four years, and also lifting its tuition freeze, allowing small increases in the coming years… While the province had boosted post-secondary operating funds for 2025-26 to more than $5 billion — an eight per cent increase over the prior year — it remained the lowest per student of any province.
Tags: budget, Education, featured, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
What Alberta is doing with its health care is a threat to every Canadian
Monday, February 9th, 2026
The Health Statutes Amendment Act will allow physicians to practice in both the public and private system for medically necessary care — meaning that they can both bill the provincial health care plan for some patients and charge other patients out-of-pocket or through private insurance… Dual practice does not address the real problems in health care because it does not involve adding more health care professionals to the system or enable more organized, efficient care.
Tags: featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
The wrong people are being asked to pay for Canada’s crisis in health care
Friday, February 6th, 2026
Starting on May 1, 2026, beneficiaries [of the Interim Federal Health Program(IFHP)]such as asylum seekers and refugees will be required to copay 30 per cent of the cost of supplemental health benefits, in addition to a $4 for every prescription filled or renewed… This also applies to dental care, physiotherapy, and mental health treatment. For refugees, these services are not optional; they are essential, and paying 30 per cent of their cost is simply not feasible.
Tags: Health, immigration, participation, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
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