More funding and tuition hikes coming to Ontario's post-secondary schools

There is $6.4 billion in new funding and the 8-year tuition freeze will be lifted.

The Province is boosting funding to Ontario's post-secondary schools and, at the same time, lifting the tuition freeze that had been in place since 2018.

Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security Nolan Quinn announced at Queen's Park today that the government is injecting $6.4 billion in new funding as part of the new funding model.

He says this is to ensure the sustainability of colleges, universities and Indigenous Institutes, as well as preparing  graduates with the in-demand skills they need so they can find good-paying, rewarding careers, while continuing to keep education accessible and keep costs down for students and their families. 

The new long-term funding formula announced by the Province will see the $6.4 billion spread out over four years and raise annual operating funding to $7 billion, a 30 per cent increase and the highest level in the province’s history. It will also fund 70,000 more in-demand seats, while better meeting the needs of small, rural, northern, French-language and Indigenous Institutes.

The Province is also allowing post-secondary institutions to raise tuition by up to 2 per cent per year for three years, then up to 2 per cent or the three-year average rate of inflation, whichever is less, in the years following. This amounts to an average tuition hike of about 18 cents a day for college students, and 47 cents a day for university students.

They say this updated tuition framework will support the postsecondary sector’s long-term sustainability while maintaining one of the lowest rates of tuition increase in Canada.

St. Lawrence College President Glenn Vollebregt in a statement says colleges such as SLC have been delivering job-ready, highly skilled graduates for more than 60 years.

He says this is the largest investment in the sector’s history and the commitment signals that the government sees value in what they do, and the importance of students and graduates to the provincial economy.  

Story by Ken Hashizume