OCUFA is pleased to announce the release of our 2014 budget recommendations. As with past years, our budget submission to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs (SCFEA) seeks to improve the quality of higher education in Ontario through investment in operating grants and hiring of full time faculty.
We are sensitive to the province’s fiscal circumstances, but believe that investment – at any level – will help our universities and the province to thrive. Our recommendations reflect an estimated minimum and maximum cost of the
proposal or are cost neutral. The Government of Ontario can make smaller investments as finances dictate, but we simply can’t afford not to invest in our universities.
OCUFA recommends:
- Increasing per-student public investment in universities to the national average by 2020. Cost in 2014-15: A minimum of $120 million and a maximum of $240 million
- Bringing the student faculty ratio in line with the national average by 2020 by hiring 9,300 new full-time faculty members. Cost in 2014-15: $117 million
- Increasing research funding to universities by reducing or phasing out ineffective tax credits for private sector research and development. Cost in 2014-15: No additional cost
- Restoring per-student funding for teacher training programs in Ontario’s public universities Cost in 2014-15: $14 million
- Funding an impartial body to undertake a study looking at precarious academic workers to establish baseline data on contract faculty in Ontario.
- Ensuring that faculty concerns and interests are reflected in framework legislation and regulations pertaining to the transfer of assets from a single employer pension to a jointly sponsored pension plan.
The SCFEA makes a pre-budget report to the House, containing their recommendations for the 2014 Budget.
Read OCUFA’s full budget submission, Investing for the Future.