'It's simply at a breaking point': Universities warn of dark days ahead and call for end of tuition freeze

After a difficult 2023, universities across Ontario are hoping for a better 2024.

The University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University are both projecting multi-million dollar loses over 2023/2024.

The University of Waterloo estimates it will lose $15 million. Wilfrid Laurier was projecting an $11 million shortfall but says it has been able to mitigate some of that through austerity measures. The University of Guelph did not respond to CTV Kitchener’s request for an updated financial estimate.

“Universities across Ontario right now are going through a real challenge, there's a real financial struggle and I think it's going to have an impact on students,” said Lloyd Noronha, vice-president of finance and administration at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Noronha says the main issue is restrictive policy from the provincial government that makes it difficult to increase revenue.

“We saw a 10 per cent reduction in tuition back in 2019 and it's been frozen since. On top of that, grants that the provincial government provides universities, those have also been frozen,” he said.

With limited ability to increase money coming in, Noronha says they’ve had to find ways to limit what they spend.

“I think universities have done a tremendous amount of work in terms of trying to find efficiencies... But it's simply at a breaking point right now.”

In the fall of 2023, an expert panel released a set of recommendations to the province that included ending the tuition freeze and increase funding.

The Minister of Colleges and Universities said in a release they will work with institutions to chart a path forward, but said: “Before agreeing to any tuition increases however, we need to ensure that colleges and universities are taking the necessary steps to ensure that they are operating as efficiently as possible.”

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF UNIVERSITIES CAN’T GET MORE MONEY?

Alex Usher is the President of Higher Education Strategy Associates. He says without a change at the provincial level, many Ontario Universities will be forced to make further cuts.

“If something does not change, what you're looking at is years of two or three per cent cuts,” said Usher.

He says he does not think any schools will be forced to close, but the overall quality of education could suffer.

“It means there won't be new hires, it means the faculty will age, it means the equipment will age, you got leaks in the laboratories and rain’s coming into the building and those kinds of things, you see a lot more buckets in the hallways,” said Usher.

According to Usher, some universities, and many colleges have weathered the recent storm by targeting international students, who schools can charge three times as much.

“Governments have given institutions a choice between international students or nothing, and those who can't quite get enough international students are in trouble right now,” said Usher.