Cuts in government grants and the shifting of the financial burden to students have severely restricted many potential students' access to higher education.

Strategic Re-Investment in Ontario Universities

6 May 2007

• Submitted by the London Chamber of Commerce at the 2004 Ontario Chamber Commerce AGM & Convention in Thunder Bay, Ontario and approved
• Updated for re-submission for May 2007 Ontario Chamber convention and adopted

Issue

Ontario's universities provide us with a unique economic advantage that is quickly being eroded. Their role as vital economic generators in the province has been severely crippled by chronic under funding thus weakening our competitive position in the national and global marketplace.

Background

Ontario's most recent $6.2 billion investment in post secondary education, the “Reaching Higher Plan”, will assist with student aid and in accommodating some growth in enrolment. According to the Council of Ontario Universities however, this investment is not likely to move Ontario out of last place in post-secondary funding among the 10 provinces by 2009/10.

Recommendations:

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce urges the Government of Ontario to:

1. Bring university funding up to the national average, incrementally by the budget year 2011/2012.
2. Allow post-secondary institutions the flexibility to determine fees, on a program by program basis to be determined by value and market conditions.
3. Examine the government model in Great Britain where flexible tuition fees for institutions are matched by special grants and tuition subsidies for lower income students - those who can afford to contribute to the cost of their education do so. Loans are available that provide for repayment rates based on income after graduation.

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Attachments

• Strategic Re-Investment in Ontario Universities