The latest international comparative education data was recently released by Statistics Canada. As with previous editions, Canada fares well when it comes to the percentage of 25 to 64 year olds with tertiary education (college and university) credentials – 51 per cent compared to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average of 33 […]
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On November 29, 2013, the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities Released its “ Differentiation Policy Framework .” This document is the finalized version of the framework that was leaked in September and then made public on the Ministry’s website. It lays out the principles, components, and metrics that will guide the Ministry’s differentiation policy going forward, and is intended to inform the Strategic Mandate Agreements (SMAs) currently being […]
On November 22, 2013, OCUFA held a university finance workshop. The goal was to provide tools to faculty associations to hold their administrations to account on financial issues. Faculty association representatives from across Ontario listened to presentations on how to interpret, challenge, and communicate about institutional budgets. Speakers included CCPA economist Hugh MacKenzie, Toronto City Councillor […]
Critics of the productivity of Ontario’s universities need to check their facts. Ontario universities are doing much better than their American peers when it comes to graduation rates. Over the last decade, the overall graduation rate amongst undergraduates in Ontario has been steadily improving. The latest data show it at 81 per cent. Once first professional […]
It is now well know that 70 per cent of new jobs would require some form of post-secondary education. But the origin of this figure is not so clear, and despite its prevalence, no one is ever quite sure where it came from. However, the
Despite the claims of some observers, Ontario’s professors are teaching as many students as they did a decade ago, and face mounting workload pressure. Claims that faculty members are teaching less – made by a small collection of policy merchants — are based more on anecdote than observation. More to the point, they are misdirected. The […]
On Thursday, August 9, 2012, OCUFA participated in a government consultation on the greater use of technology in Ontario’s universities and colleges, held at the University of Waterloo. The session was part of the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities’ (MTCU) roundtables on ideas contained within the discussion paper, Strengthening Ontario’s Centres of Creativity, Innovation, and Knowledge . Previous consultations, also attended by […]
Since 1992, women have made significant gains in PhD enrolment. However, in certain fields, they continue to lag behind men in employment and median salary. The recent Statistics Canada report on the career paths of Canadian doctoral graduates echoes an earlier Statistics Canada release that traced the increasing proportion of doctoral students and graduates who are women. Less than a […]
On July 19, 2012, OCUFA President Constance Adamson and OCUFA staff attended the first of seven government-led consultations on the reform of Ontario’s universities. The session was also attended by representatives of student groups, colleges, and university administrators. The theme of the consultation was “Quality Teaching and Learning Outcomes”. The session began with presentations from a […]
On June 29, 2012 OCUFA met with Bill Morneau, the Government of Ontario’s advisor on joint asset management, to present its brief on pooling the assets of Ontario public pension plans . The brief highlighted seven principles OCUFA believes are essential to any asset consolidation process: The interests of plan members must be of primary consideration. The ultimate scope of a pooled asset management system […]
According to Statistics Canada , Ontario university students pay the highest average domestic tuition in Canada. Undergraduates pay 13 per cent more than their peers in Nova Scotia, the next most expensive province. Even after accounting for student support paid from university operating budgets, Ontario domestic and international students together pay on average 41 per cent more […]
On Thursday, June 28, 2012, OCUFA President Constance Adamson and OCUFA staff met with Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities Glen Murray. The purpose of the meeting was for the Minister to present a discussion paper on reform to Ontario’s postsecondary sector, “ Strengthening Ontario’s Centres of Creativity, Innovation and Knowledge: A discussion paper on innovation to make our university and college system stronger “. Minister Murray also outlined a consultation process on the discussion paper […]
New Statistics Canada data reveals that a university education continues to insulate grads from economic shocks. However, grads are not immune to pressures in the labour market—the number of workers with a university degree grew faster than the number of employed university graduates. An earlier edition of Data Check reported on Canadian and international evidence showing […]
Professors and academic librarians are concerned about the quality of education at Ontario’s universities, according to a new survey released today. Of those surveyed, 42 per cent believed that quality had declined at their institution. “Ontario’s universities have welcomed thousands of new students over the past five years, but public funding has just not kept […]
Ontario leads the world in terms of postsecondary attainment. But as the data shows, this has more to do with college attendance than university access. Statistics Canada reports that half of Canadians between the ages of 25 and 64 have a college or university education. In Ontario, 56 per cent have attained a postsecondary credential. The average […]