As the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) searches for ways to reduce its budget deficit and avoid being taken over by the province, it is also looking for ways to keep its offerings of adult education courses cost neutral.
In January, trustees at a program and school services committee meeting were presented with a report that stated fees for general interest and seniors’ daytime programs would increase by 45 per cent this coming fall. In addition, the seniors’ discount will be reduced from the current 30 per cent to 20 per cent, resulting in a fee increase of 66 per cent.
For example, an art class will increase from $341 to $495 and the seniors’ rate will increase from $238 to $396.
“The ongoing deficits in these programs require funds to be redirected from other board revenue sources, such as staffing and school-based funding to cover shortfalls,” the report stated. This contradicts a TDSB policy that requires these programs to be fully funded by user fees and remain cost neutral.
Last spring, it was suggested that adult general interest programming, known as Learn4Life, be scrapped all together, given the costs and ongoing deficit of more than $580,000.
It was saved partly thanks to the efforts of a group of volunteers called Friends of Learn4Life, brought together by founder Jared Westreich. They’ve undertaken a number of promotional activities like flyer campaigns and setting up booths at markets to spread the word about the program and boost enrolment.
“The response from the community’s really been incredible so far. We’ve had so many different initiatives over the past year and the program’s gotten so, so much more financially sustainable,” said Westreich.
“We’ve been working closely with the continuing education department, with trustees, with instructors and with learners, and I’m really happy with what we’ve accomplished so far.”
Westreich shared that saving the programs is important to him because he knows the value of the courses and what they mean to people. He has taken courses in Spanish and bike repair and says they’ve enriched his life immensely.
“I went to South America for four months and I really wouldn’t have done that without the skills that I had learned in my Spanish class. Recently, I went on a two month trip through Europe and I certainly wouldn’t have had the confidence to go out on my own, biking all the way from Lisbon to Paris, if I didn’t feel comfortable that I’d be able to fix my bike if something went wrong,” he said.
He feels increasing fees is going to make the courses unaffordable for many and the progress made by Friends of Learn4Life will be lost.
“That plan to raise the fees by 45 per cent and 66 per cent for seniors was a plan that was developed over a year ago, before any of the enrollment growth that we’ve seen in the past year. And we really haven’t seen the TDSB deviate from that plan despite all the progress that’s been made,” he said.
“If you increase the fees by that amount I think everyone kind of knows that the result will be a sharp drop in the number of participants and that makes it really hard to reach the cost neutrality that we’re after.”
Helen Fisher, who has taught textile art courses with Learn4Life for 10 years, says her students have told her they are shocked by the proposed increase.
“They can understand that fees have to go up a bit, but 66 per cent for seniors that are on fixed incomes is just ridiculous. Forty-five per cent for general admission is kind of ridiculous. That’s upping most of my courses by $150 – $200,” she said.
“I think people, even instructors will be looking for alternatives [because] I think there will be a drop in enrollment. That’s my biggest fear — that because of the rate increases, we’re going to lose enrollment, and then [the TDSB] is going to say the classes aren’t filling up and we’re going to cut the program.”
Roy Underhill, a senior who has been taking Learn4Life courses for more than 20 years, said he attended the meeting in January and was told that staff estimated a 35 per cent drop in enrolment following the proposed fee increase.
“The net effect on revenue is zero — by how much it goes up, it also loses that much because fewer people are involved. So I’m scratching my head about what is the point? Why do such a thing?”
Westreich said he and other students are not opposed to a fee hike entirely, but it needs to be reasonable.
“I think an inflationary increase would be the most favorable approach for the learners. If we work really hard as a community to increase the enrollment and find ways to open up new classes, then I think the community could tolerate a fee increase up to about 10 per cent,” he said.
“We’ve run the numbers and with a 10 per cent increase in fees and about a 10 or 15 per cent increase in enrollment, we could easily increase the revenues to a point that the program is cost neutral.”
He added that they would like more transparency in terms of the costs being attributed to the Learn4Life program, which he believes are contributing to the deficit — such as cost of classroom rentals. They are also asking for more clarity on how the fee increase is calculated and why such a big hike is necessary.
“I think there is politics behind this fee increase because the board, in its current budget crisis, they need to make sure that it’s not appearing that they’re spending money on things outside of their core mandate. Which I totally understand — all we’re asking for is the numbers to be transparent and for a conversation to occur about what’s really necessary in order to make the program cost neutral for next year.”
In a statement to CityNews, the TDSB said the fee increases will enable them to achieve “full cost recovery for 2025-2026”
“This decision aligns with recommendations from the Ontario Auditor General’s 2024 Annual Report, which advised the TDSB to regularly assess programs and services that are not fully funded — such as General Interest programs — and to redesign these offerings or adjust fees so they can be delivered on a cost-recovery basis,” said TDSB communications advisor Emma Moynihan.
Westreich and Fisher both feel that the provincial government needs to step in and increase funding to the TDSB in order to keep Learn4Life accessible.
“We’re looking outside of the TDSB — we’re looking to speak with the Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility, the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Sport,” Westreich said.
“There’s so many people in the community that get so many advantages from these classes and if we can get a little bit of support from the government or from some sort of other organization, we can continue the amazing growth that we’ve been seeing … and we can make sure that this program that’s been occurring in Toronto schools for over a hundred years can continue to operate.”
Calls to increase enrolment instead of fees
Fisher, Underhill, Stopps and Westreich all feel that the TDSB should build on the progress made by Friends of Learn4Life in terms of enrolment in order to keep fee increases low.
“Last year there would be over a hundred classes that would be canceled due to low enrollment each term. And now it’s only a couple dozen that end up not meeting the criteria. There are many, many classes that are completely sold out, so well over a hundred classes each semester have wait lists … so in time that demand can be leveraged for continued growth,” said Westreich.
“It’s a process that does take time because each semester when you’ve got wait lists, you know which classes you can offer more of. But it can’t happen instantaneously. It happens over the course of several semesters. So for that reason we really see that continued growth is possible, but only if the program can stay accessible and affordable to the people that wanna participate.”
Fisher says they need more time and more awareness to continue the gains made since Friends of Learn4Life got involved.
“Registration has been increasing, but we need time — another year even — just to get those increases and get the word out. People don’t know about these programs. We need advertising. The TDSB doesn’t really do any advertising. They have a card that they drop off to libraries, but young people, they haven’t got a clue [about these courses],” she said.
“If they need more revenue, they don’t need higher fees, they need more people,” added Underhill
“Rather than spending all this effort to raise the fees, why not spend some effort to get more people involved? It would solve some or all of their problems, and it would make those peoples’ lives better.”
“If you have more people and less fees [it] is going to give you a better result than having fewer people at a higher rate,” echoed Fisher.
“Raising the price of something is not going to add people to the roster.”
More than just skill building
Underhill, who has taken courses ranging from canoe building to pickleball, said there aren’t many alternatives available to the kind of courses Learn4Life offers in the city at affordable rates. He also stressed that they provide much more than skill building.
“It would definitely impoverish my life both culturally and intellectually. There would not be the same richness of activity. There would be more isolation, there would be less social contact,” he said.
“People need to be in touch with other people in other places than their workplace or their home. You have a society around you, you need to be part of it. So chopping some of that off has got to be a bad thing to do. It would certainly be bad for me.”
Learn4Life jewelry making instructor and Underhill’s wife, Susan Stopps, agrees.
“The students find a very supportive community and many longstanding friendships have resulted,” she said.
“Especially the seniors — the courses support their mental health through the release of stress, the positive aspects of preventing loneliness by making new friends and the prevention of cognitive decline by learning new skills — which is very important.”
Stopps, who has taught courses for nearly 40 years, added that the inability to afford these classes would be “catastrophic” for seniors.
“I think it would be hard on them mentally and for their feeling of being part of the community … I think it would be really bad,” she said.
Westreich, who works as an Alzheimer’s researcher, says one of the main factors that motivated him to create Friends of Learn4Life was to ensure the programming continues to be available to seniors.
“Right now, the most effective way to prevent, the development of Alzheimer’s symptoms and to delay the disease progression is being socially connected and active within the community,” he said.
“I think there’s such a huge impact of classes like these on the participants and on their families, but also on the overall, costs to the system of caring for these people. So we’re talking about a relatively small deficit for the program — I think it’s anticipated to be less than $500,000 — if the fees remain fixed. That would allow thousands of seniors to remain in these classes and I think it’s one of those things that would save millions of dollars in the long term for the healthcare system.”
Fisher added that the benefits to the community are immeasurable.
“I think this is one of the only places that friendships and happiness and self-empowerment [happen simultaneously] — people are accomplishing something. Your brain and your hands are working together, which is a complete stress release,” she said
“People are proud of themselves and when they go out into the community, that feeling of happiness is going to extend to everybody else that they meet. It’s amazing for the health of the community. It’s a gem. They cannot throw this away. I think they will regret it if they do.”
