Pre-budget submission-Risking Ontario’s Future: The Dangers of Underfunding Ontario Universities
OCUFA’s solutions for stronger universities and a stronger Ontario
Ontario’s universities provide many positive contributions to Ontarians and their communities, including by building Ontario talent, generating knowledge, stimulating the economy, driving innovation, and directly addressing the needs of the communities and regions in which they are located. It’s clear that universities benefit all Ontarians, regardless of whether they have attended university. These tremendous benefits are at risk if Ontario continues to underfund its universities.
To improve Ontario’s university sector and provide benefits to all Ontarians, OCUFA calls on the government to:
- Increase total provincial university funding by 11.75 percent annually for a five-year period to bring Ontario close to the Canadian average in per-domestic student funding.
- This requires $511.8 million in funding in year one.
- Boost the number of funded student placements to immediately fund the 28,000 enrolled domestic students who are currently unfunded.
- Funding these 28,000 students at the current national provincial funding average would cost $470 million annually.
- Review and modify Ontario’s provincial university funding model to ensure that universities are supported to enroll academically qualified domestic students.
- Double and make permanent the Northern Ontario Grant for Universities over its 2024-25 total to reflect the immense contributions of Ontario’s Northern universities and their unique costs, with annual increases thereafter tied to inflation.
- Convert student loans into grants to directly address the affordability crisis facing Ontario families.