Ontario’s universities and colleges are asking the Ford government for billions more in the spring budget — $1.2 billion in added operating funding for universities next year and just over $1.5 billion for colleges — framing the investment as critical to the premier’s plan to “protect Ontario” from tariff impacts.
A sector at ‘a breaking point’
The institutions say they are struggling after years of low operating funding from the province, an extended tuition freeze and severely curtailed revenue from international students due to federal policies. Universities project a budget shortfall of $1.3 billion by 2028-29; colleges foresee a sector-wide deficit of up to $1.5 billion by 2027-28.
The Council of Ontario Universities says in its pre-budget submission that its institutions are at “a breaking point,” and calls for an additional $1.2 billion in operating funding next year, rising to $1.6 billion by 2028-29.
“What we’re calling for is an investment into the foundation that will support Ontario growing and competing in the global economy,” the council’s president and CEO, Steve Orsini, said in an interview. “We need the tools and resources to continue to enrol Ontario students and to train them in areas that the economy depends on.”
Since 2020, the number of Ontario high school students applying to a university in the province has risen by 18.5 per cent — and Orsini said the way Ontario funds the sector is making it harder for tens of thousands of those students to get into a program of their choice. “Without additional funding and the enrolment cap increasing, we believe there will be a lack of spaces for those students, and this will undermine Ontario’s ability to train the next generation of top talent to support our economy,” he said.
The colleges’ $1.5-billion ask
Colleges have tailored their pitch to the government’s “protect Ontario” mantra, arguing they train the workers in the sectors the strategy depends on — skilled trades, technology and advanced manufacturing — and that some of the most economically vital programs are also the most expensive to deliver.
Colleges Ontario’s pre-budget submission seeks just over $1.5 billion: $1.1 billion to close the operating funding gap through increased grants and updated tuition policy; $200 million to expand high-priority programs, creating up to 20,000 new training opportunities; $200 million a year to maintain regional access for small, northern, rural and French-language colleges; and $100 million over three years for sector-wide collaboration, shared services, cybersecurity and modernization.
“With provincial funding $7,700 per student below the national average and tuition $1,100 lower, colleges cannot expand or sustain these high-cost programs, especially with declining international revenue,” the colleges say. “Without targeted investment, more programs and campuses may face suspension or closure.”
“Ontario’s economic and workforce needs depend on colleges,” said Colleges Ontario president and CEO Maureen Adamson, noting colleges supply more than half the workers in the sectors facing the most acute shortages, and that Ontario will need nearly one million additional college graduates by 2035 to meet known labour-market demand.
The pincer: frozen tuition, vanishing international revenue
Two policies explain much of the squeeze. Domestic tuition has been frozen by the province since 2019, even as costs rose. At the same time, colleges and universities increasingly relied on international students — who pay far steeper, unfrozen tuition — to shore up their finances. Since the federal government sharply cut study permits, that revenue is collapsing: colleges estimate federal changes will remove up to $4.2 billion in revenue by 2027-28, with international enrolment expected to fall by more than 70 per cent from 2023-24 levels.
The cuts have already started. Colleges say they have reduced costs by $1.4 billion, suspended more than 600 programs and eliminated more than 8,000 staff positions.
The government’s answer, so far
A spokesperson for Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn said the government has already increased operating funding by 12 per cent over the past two years, and is in the midst of changing Ontario’s funding formula.
“Through meaningful consultations, we are examining how we fund priority programs, how we can better support small, rural, and northern institutions, and how we can align funding with student success outcomes to ensure graduates are job-ready and able to meet Ontario’s labour-market needs,” Bianca Giacoboni wrote in a statement.
The universities’ submission acknowledges recent provincial investments, including $1.3 billion over three years for colleges and universities — though that funding is scheduled to expire in just over a year — and $150 million annually for unfunded STEM enrolment. Whether the spring budget goes further is the test both sectors are now setting for the “protect Ontario” promise.
