Ontario adds $1.3B in post-secondary funding, freezes tuition for 3 more years

Ontario has announced a billion dollar aid package to help stabilize the province’s post-secondary institutions amid a financial crisis and while some say it’s not enough, local schools will be obtaining some relief.

On Monday afternoon, Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop announced the $1.3 billion investment saying the province wants to improve the sustainability of the post-secondary education sector.

It was a press conference rife with deflection, with the minister redirecting blame to the federal government for the financial difficulties facing the post-secondary sector with its limitation of international undergraduate students.

The billion dollar aid package is set to be accompanied by an additional $900 million stabilization fund over the next three years.

The package itself is inclusive of a tuition freeze for Ontario students until at least 2026-2027, $167.4 million to repair and renovate existing facilities and $100 million to support STEM programs.

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The funding, though, is less than half of what had been recommended by an expert panel that had been tapped by Dunlop to examine post-secondary finances.

That panel recommended a one-time, 10-per-cent increase in per-student funding to colleges and universities followed by inflationary increases in subsequent years, as well as a five-per-cent increase in tuition along with an “equally generous” increase to student aid.

Full implementation of the expert recommendations would have meant $2.5 billion in ongoing base funding over the next three years, according to Council of Ontario Universities president Steve Orsini.

Following the announcement, Dunlop spoke with CHCH News on the impact of the announcement on local institutions.

“I was speaking with McMaster University last night because they will be receiving a portion of the funding for the stem seed which was a hundred million dollars so I know that is a big announcement for McMaster University with the number of engineering programs that they are offering on campus.” she said.

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McMaster University’s provost and academic vice-president Susan Tighe says that while they operate on a surplus, the school is welcoming the assistance.

“There have been thousands of students at McMaster without government funding for education and that’s included 3200 this year and those students are in the stem and health fields so we are delighted at this decision to support them.”

President of Niagara College, Sean Kennedy, says he hopes they will receive some of the funding needed for the $72.8 million it has allocated to new equipment.

“The equipment costs are really high so it’s really welcome news to see that there is some additional funding set aside.” said Kennedy.

Some opposition leaders, however, say it’s not enough.

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“I think the Ford government needs to go back to college or university to study math. Four hundred million dollars a year won’t even come close to covering the 1.8 Billion dollars hit the sector’s going to take due to the Federal government’s changes to international students,” said Green Party leader Mike Schreiner.

“And then if you factor in what it would take to get Ontario’s post secondary sector up to the Canadian average of spending on Canadian universities and colleges, that would require an additional $7 billion a year. ”

Despite the pushback, Dunlop says the government is doing its part.

“I’m a mother of daughters, actually my youngest is graduating from post secondary this year and my other two daughters graduated in the past year. So as minister and as a mother I am incredibly proud of our post secondary education system here in Ontario.”

The province also says it is introducing new legislation that, if passed, would require colleges and universities to disclose information about additional costs or learning fees to students.

READ MORE: Colleges ask Ontario for 5% tuition hike and funding boost