Ontario’s universities and colleges are looking for billion-dollar funding boosts in the province’s upcoming budget, investments they are framing as critical to Premier Doug Ford’s plan to “protect Ontario” from tariff impacts by strengthening domestic capabilities.
The post-secondary institutions say they are struggling after years of low operating funding from the government, an extended tuition fee freeze and severely curtailed revenue from international students due to federal policies.
Universities are projecting a budget shortfall of $1.3 billion by 2028-29 and colleges say they will see a sector-wide deficit of up to $1.5 billion by 2027-28.
The Council of Ontario Universities says in its pre-budget submission that its institutions are at “a breaking point” and they are calling for an additional $1.2 billion in operating funding next year, with that amount increasing to $1.6 billion by 2028-29.
“What we’re calling for is an investment into the foundation that will support Ontario growing and competing in the global economy,” the council’s president and CEO Steve Orsini said in an interview.
“We need the tools and resources to continue to enrol Ontario students and to train them in areas that the economy depends on.”
Since 2020 the number of Ontario high school students applying to a university in the province has increased by 18.5 per cent, and the way Ontario funds the sector is making it harder for tens of thousands of those students to get into a program of their choice, Orsini said.
“Without additional funding and the enrolment cap increasing, we believe there will be a lack of spaces for those students, and this will undermine Ontario’s ability to train the next generation of top talent to support our economy,” he said.
Colleges, too, have tailored their funding pitch to the Ford government’s “protect Ontario” mantra. They are looking for $1.5 billion in operational and other funding.
The schools are training workers in such key sectors as skilled trades, technology and advanced manufacturing, and some of the programs most vital to the economy are the most expensive for schools to deliver, Colleges Ontario wrote in its pre-budget submission.
“With provincial funding $7,700 per student below the national average and tuition $1,100 lower, colleges cannot expand or sustain these high-cost programs, especially with declining international revenue,” the colleges say.
“Without targeted investment, more programs and campuses may face suspension or closure.”
In the face of the low levels of provincial funding and stagnant domestic tuition revenue, Ontario colleges increasingly turned to international students, who face far steeper tuition fees that are not frozen, to shore up their finances. Since the federal government has sharply cut back levels of foreign student visas, that will remove up to $4.2 billion in revenue for colleges by 2027-28, they say.
Colleges have already cut $1.4 billion in costs, suspended more than 600 programs and eliminated more than 8,000 staff positions, they say.
A spokesperson for Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn said the government has already increased operating funding by 12 per cent over the past two years, but is also in the midst of making changes to Ontario’s funding formula.
“Through meaningful consultations, we are examining how we fund priority programs, how we can better support small, rural, and northern institutions, and how we can align funding with student success outcomes to ensure graduates are job-ready and able to meet Ontario’s labour-market needs,” Bianca Giacoboni wrote in a statement.
