The latest education indicators from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) suggest that Canada ranks third amongst OECD countries in annual expenditures per student in tertiary (college and university) education. These figures include expenditures by governments on direct support to colleges and universities, support for research and development, and financial support to individuals in the […]
Funding
As the province, feds, and private sector do less for research and development, universities are being forced to do more – often at the expense of basic operating funds. When per-student public funding falls at our universities, so do R&D expenditures. As we’ve shown over the past few weeks, major players in research and development are […]
Like the federal government and Canadian business, the Ontario government talks a good game about the need to innovate. But when it comes to funding research and development, it also balks at the walk. According to Statistics Canada, and after adjusting for inflation, the Ontario government spent 29 per cent less on R&D in 2010-11 […]
If innovation is the name of the game for improving Canada’s economic prospects, who is paying for the research and development (R&D) that contributes to the effort? Last week we saw that business is losing interest. It seems the next biggest funder, the federal government, is getting out of the business too. Statistics Canada reports that […]
The most recent data indicate that operating funding provided to Ontario universities by the provincial government is in a holding pattern when compared to other provinces. For 2010-11, per student funding was 34 per cent lower than in the rest of Canada, the same gap as 2009-10. Ontario remains dead last in terms of public […]
The 2012 Ontario Budget essentially took a ‘wait and see’ approach on funding for research and development. After abruptly cancelling three rounds of funding under the Ontario Research Fund (ORF) Research Excellence program late last year, there is no immediate prospect of further cuts. But there will be no new funding to keep pace with either inflation or […]
OCUFA is disappointed that today’s provincial budget effectively cuts university resources while signaling increased government intervention in labour relations. “If you look behind the numbers in the budget, the government is providing less money to universities than recommended by Don Drummond,” said Constance Adamson, President of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA). “University education is one […]
By almost any measure, provincial public funding for Ontario universities has lagged behind every other province for nearly two decades. Reckoned in terms of inflation-adjusted per student funding, provincial support bottomed out in 2002-03, rose again for a few years, and has been falling again since 2008-09. Operating expenditures follow a similar pattern. Over […]
Last month, the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) released Public Education for the Public Good: A National Vision for Canada’s Post-Secondary Education System. Some of its finding: Since the late 1990s, full-time enrolment at colleges and universities has increased 25 per cent. Enrolment in graduate studies soared 42 per cent between 1998 and 2008. But federal funding for […]
OCUFA’s Quality Matters campaign has a simple message: our universities are under-funded, and this needs to be fixed. In order to control tuition, hire more faculty and renew our facilities, the 2011 election candidates must make higher education a priority.
You can help us spread the word In a few easy steps, the Quality Matters website allows you to send an email to each of your local candidates asking them to make higher education a priority. Please take a few moments to send a message, and please spread the word to your friends and colleagues. Every email makes a difference.
Almost three quarters of Ontarians want universities and colleges to be a high priority for the Government of Ontario, according to the latest province-wide data from the joint OCUFA/CFS-O poll. At the same time, many Ontarians are concerned about the affordability of postsecondary education, particularly young Ontarians between the ages of 18-24. [Read the release | Read the results]