Ontario should end its tuition freeze immediately and allow for a five-per-cent bump next September, the province’s colleges said Monday.
The post-secondary institutions are also calling for a 10-per-cent increase in operating grants and the lifting of a cap on “high-demand” programs to allow for more student enrolment.
“These investments in student success will help ensure Ontario’s future workforce has the expertise to succeed in a rapidly evolving labour market,” said Marketa Evans, the president of Colleges Ontario, which represents the province’s colleges.
Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government introduced a 10-per-cent tuition cut in 2019 – as it cancelled the former Liberal government’s free tuition program for low- and middle-income students – and has frozen fees at that level since then.
The freeze led post-secondary institutions to increase their dependence on international student tuition, which is considerably higher than for domestic students.
Last week, a government-commissioned report completed by an independent panel recommended ending the tuition freeze and increasing per-student funding to Ontario’s universities and colleges.
The Council of Ontario Universities has said those institutions receive the lowest amount of operating grant funding per full-time student of all the provinces. The level in Ontario is $8,647 compared to a Canadian average of $12,215 in 2020-21, the council said earlier this year.
Ontario Colleges and Universities Minister Jill Dunlop has not specified what the government will do, but said she has asked the institutions to go over their finances and become as efficient as possible.
“My ministry has already begun working with institutions on a financial accountability framework that will allow for early detection of financial challenges and require immediate action to correct bad practices in order for our post-secondary to be sustainable for the long term,” she said at the legislature on Monday.
“Institutions need to take leadership and review their operations from top to bottom, from governance practices, program offerings, day-to-day operations and everything between.”
The colleges said they are already operating efficiently.
“Colleges have been operating under tight fiscal constraints for decades and have found many ways to work together and find efficiencies,” the colleges wrote in a statement.
“For example, we already have a single bargaining approach, a single application service, collaborative purchasing and collaborative curriculum development.”
The colleges’ call came days after a similar ask from the province’s universities. The Council of Ontario Universities called for government action immediately.
News Related
-
It was a chilly morning on the Kainai Nation on Friday and emergency services staff from the Blood Tribe came out in full support of those experiencing domestic violence. The ninth annual Domestic Violence Awareness Walk put on by the Kainai Women’s Wellness Lodge saw men in the community slip ...
See Details:
‘Walk In Her Shoes’ event held in Kainai Nation
-
Today, Manitoba announced that it will temporarily reduce costs for farmers using Crown land for grazing, haying and yearly cropping. The measure will bring the reduction rate up to 55 per cent from 33 per cent for the 2024 growing season. Carson Callum, general manager with Manitoba Beef Producers, said ...
See Details:
Manitoba announces reduced rent on agricultural Crown land
-
Small businesses and climate activists are looking at what the province’s newly introduced “gas tax holiday” bill could mean for Manitobans. The bill was introduced Thursday by Finance Minister Adrien Sala, and offers to remove provincial tax from gasoline and diesel. That means 14 cents per litre will stay in ...
See Details:
Who benefits from Manitoba’s ‘gas tax holiday,’ and for how long?
-
Halifax Transit is making a push to tackle what they say has been a growing issue for their workers. During the city’s transportation standing committee meeting on Thursday, Philip Herritt, the director of transit operations for Halifax Transit, outlined a proposal to help address violent incidents happening on buses city-wide. ...
See Details:
Halifax Transit pushes to get safety officers aboard buses and ferries
-
If you’re a listener of QR Calgary on the the AM frequency, the broadcast you typically hear will be unavailable as we do some maintenance on our transmitter towers starting Friday Nov. 24 at 11 p.m. until Saturday Nov. 25 at 5 a.m. This means we’re off the air for ...
See Details:
QR Calgary 770AM will be temporarily off-air for maintenance work
-
-
The city of Saskatoon has approved recommendations allowing for more housing opportunities, hoping to access federal funds and ultimately change what housing looks like in the city. “This is a generational shift in what housing looks like. More people will have access to stable and affordable housing, with walkable services ...
See Details:
City of Saskatoon takes steps to address housing affordability
-
James Busch stands atop a hill, overlooking new trainees undertaking a firefighting course. Below, navy sailors have a tall task ahead of them: extinguishing a burning helicopter. The chopper is a Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone, but it’s not a real helicopter. The near-exact replica of the chopper, in use for the ...
See Details:
Canadian Military trains to extinguish burning helicopters
-
-
James Busch stands atop a hill, overlooking new trainees undertaking a firefighting course. Below, navy sailors have a tall task ahead of them: extinguishing a burning helicopter. The chopper is a Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone, but it’s not a real helicopter. The near-exact replica of the chopper, in use for the ...
See Details:
Toronto pet owners face ‘excruciating decisions’ in cost-of-living crisis
-
James Busch stands atop a hill, overlooking new trainees undertaking a firefighting course. Below, navy sailors have a tall task ahead of them: extinguishing a burning helicopter. The chopper is a Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone, but it’s not a real helicopter. The near-exact replica of the chopper, in use for the ...
See Details:
Black Friday weekend kicks off in Kingston
-
-
James Busch stands atop a hill, overlooking new trainees undertaking a firefighting course. Below, navy sailors have a tall task ahead of them: extinguishing a burning helicopter. The chopper is a Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone, but it’s not a real helicopter. The near-exact replica of the chopper, in use for the ...
See Details:
Doug Ford says he will waive cabinet privilege in RCMP Greenbelt investigation
-
James Busch stands atop a hill, overlooking new trainees undertaking a firefighting course. Below, navy sailors have a tall task ahead of them: extinguishing a burning helicopter. The chopper is a Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone, but it’s not a real helicopter. The near-exact replica of the chopper, in use for the ...
See Details:
Pedestrian struck and killed on Highway 3 in southern Alberta
OTHER NEWS
Ontario’s police watchdog agency has been called in by its Nova Scotia counterpart to review new information unearthed by the inquiry into the 2020 mass shooting in the Maritime province. ...
Read more »
Those travelling across the Halifax Harbour over the next two weekends can expect a lengthier commute, as the 53-year-old MacKay Bridge will be closed as it undergoes critical repairs. In ...
Read more »
The City of Toronto says it will begin to clear out an encampment in Kensington Market on Friday morning due to it being an “immediate public safety risk.” Russell Baker, ...
Read more »
Residents have been allowed to return home as stabilization works get underway on a rockslide in Penticton, B.C. A rockslide evacuated 25 homes in the Pleasant Valley Mobile Home Park ...
Read more »
As mundane urban city life churns on around them, a growing population of people are seeking shelter, trying to survive another night. Some are in tents tucked among the trees ...
Read more »
Whether it’s a big box store or online, the Black Friday weekend has been a concern for local businesses. Sarah Amies, executive director of the Downtown Lethbridge Business Revitalization Zone, ...
Read more »
A timber company working on the overdue and over-budget West Kelowna city hall project has filed a civil suit, claiming they’re owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. Seagate Mass Timber, ...
Read more »