Toronto (Feb 26) – The Doug Ford government announced a suite of measures to stabilize the province’s colleges and universities, including nearly $1.3 billion in new funding, while maintaining the tuition fee freeze for Ontario students for at least three more years.
The province is also introducing legislation that would, if passed, support student mental health, safe and inclusive campuses and allow for increased transparency of fees.
“It’s never been more important to keep costs down for students and parents,” said Colleges and Universities Minister Jill Dunlop.
At the time the freeze was first introduced and accompanied by a 10 per cent reduction in fees, Ontario had the highest university tuition rates in the country. Since then, students and parents have saved an estimated $1,600 per year on average for university and an estimated $350 per year on average for college, compared to what they would have paid under the previous policy that allowed three per cent increases each year, the province said.
Out of the nearly $1.3 billion (over three years), $903 million will go through the new Postsecondary Education Sustainability Fund including $203 million in funding for top-ups for institutions with greater financial need; $167.4 million for capital repairs and equipment; $10 million in additional one-time funding through the Small, Northern and Rural Grant for colleges and Northern Ontario Grant for Universities; $15 million through the Efficiency and Accountability Fund to support third-party; $100 million to support STEM program costs at publicly assisted colleges and universities with enrolments above currently funded levels; $65.4 million to support research and innovation, including $47.4 million for the infrastructure refresh of Ontario’s Advanced Research Computing systems and $18 million for their ongoing operations and maintenance; $23 million to enhance mental health supports, including $8 million for the Postsecondary Mental Health Action Plan.
The province is also introducing the Strengthening Accountability and Student Supports Act, 2024 that would, if passed, authorize the Minister to issue directives requiring colleges and universities to provide information about ancillary fees and other students costs, including costs for textbooks or other learning materials. This could include ensuring that fees are published by institutions in a consistent manner – for instance, by publishing costs in a course syllabus.
In order to provide additional transparency as it relates to tuition, the province will also engage with colleges and universities to create tuition fee transparency to help students and their families better understand how tuition fees are used.
The Strengthening Accountability and Student Supports Act, 2024 would also, if passed, require colleges and universities to have policies in place relating to mental health and wellness supports and services and require colleges and universities to have policies in place to combat racism and hate, including but not limited to antisemitism and Islamophobia.
The province is also introducing measures to strengthen oversight of career colleges and will ensure timely responses to concerns and complaints by improving data management, documentation processes and the efficacy of compliance investigations.
To help more students find jobs, the province intends to allow colleges to offer applied masters degrees in areas of study that will help students graduate with in-demand skills, expertise and credentials. This approach will also provide employers access to more industry-ready employees that meet labour market needs in specialized fields such as advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and animation.
The province will also launch a career portal to help students understand labour market needs and make informed decisions on postsecondary education. This will consolidate various sources of information to help students and newcomers access education and careers in Ontario.
