TORONTO, October 22, 2024 – “With a shared goal to rebuild Ontario’s economy, Ontario’s universities remain committed to ensuring our province has the highly skilled talent and ground-breaking research and innovation it needs to support its growth agenda.
Through this talent and research, universities play a vital role in solving some of Ontario’s most pressing challenges – whether it be building critical infrastructure to keep Ontarians moving, expanding the critical minerals to electric vehicles supply chain, fueling the health human resources talent pipeline or boosting our province’s biomanufacturing and life sciences capacity.
As the government prepares to release its 2024 Fall Economic Statement and provide an update on its Plan to Build, universities will continue to play a critical role in the success of this plan.
However, the university sector is facing mounting financial pressures that have been further exacerbated by recent federal changes to international students.
These financial impacts are coming at a time when Ontario’s students are showing an even greater interest in attending an Ontario university. In fact, over the last four years, the number of Ontario high school students applying to an Ontario university has increased by 12 per cent, and is only expected to grow.
But in order to continue to support these students and the province, Ontario universities urgently need the funding to do so.
The mounting financial pressures that universities face, including declining real operating grants and an eight-year cut and freeze to domestic tuition, are creating an increasingly untenable situation. In addition, the federal changes to international study permits, currently estimated to have a nearly $1-billion financial loss for the sector in the first two years alone, will have further untold impacts. The additional changes announced in September will only increase these losses.
Even factoring in the government’s announcement in February 2024, 10 universities are reporting operating deficits of more than $300 million in 2023-24, which excludes the impact of the federal changes.
The university sector is at a critical juncture.
It is why, Ontario’s universities are calling on the provincial government to work with universities on new funding agreements to address these growing financial pressures.
Highly skilled talent is essential to Ontario’s growth agenda and investing in Ontario universities will continue to support the province’s talent pipeline, including developing the scientists, engineers, planners and innovators that are needed in communities throughout Ontario.
We look forward to continuing to work with the province to ensure that Ontario’s universities have the resources they need to support our students and the province’s growth agenda.”
– Steve Orsini, President and CEO, Council of Ontario Universities