Graduating Beedie School of Business students wait for a convocation ceremony to begin at Simon Fraser University, in Burnaby, B.C., on June 12, 2024. A recent Abacus poll found that 75 per cent of Canadians want governments to spend more on university funding.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Canada’s university leaders say that despite facing significant financial and political headwinds they’re confident that their institutions will play a key role in tackling the challenges facing the country in the years ahead.
A group of nine university presidents, all members of the board of Universities Canada, recently spoke with The Globe and Mail about the state of higher education in the country.
With Canada’s sovereignty under threat, its primary trade relationship upended and the global order disrupted, they said they believe achieving national goals in innovation, defence and economic growth will require attention and investment in the research and teaching that universities offer.
They touted a recent Abacus poll that showed about 75 per cent of Canadians want governments to spend more on university funding.
The poll’s political message was clearly aimed at provincial and federal governments, which have allowed funding increases to stagnate over the last decade.
“Canadians support universities and see their role in building the economy. That’s number one on their agenda,” said Gabriel Miller, president of Universities Canada, an umbrella group that represents nearly 100 Canadian schools.
“Polling has always shown there is a strong base of support for universities, but Canadians are seeing a renewed awareness in the value of these institutions.”
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Nevertheless, Joy Johnson, president of Simon Fraser University, said universities have work to do. When things were going well, it was easy for governments to ignore the sector. Now that “things aren’t joining up the way we want them to,” governments and citizens need to be reminded of the role that universities play, she said.
“We know the advantages we bring to Canada, but we need to cut through and tell that story,” Dr. Johnson said. “As universities, we want to lean into this moment and make a difference.”
The headwinds that universities face have worsened in recent years.
Public funding per student is down across the country by more than 20 per cent since 2010, according to Universities Canada. Domestic tuition rates are frozen in Ontario and capped in many other provinces, so it’s difficult to raise prices to make up the difference.
International students, whose higher fees have made up some of the revenue needed for operations, have been placed under an increasingly restrictive cap. The number of new study permits, it was announced in the November budget, will be cut in half again next year.
Meanwhile, wages for faculty and staff rise every year. Inflation has totaled about 20 per cent since 2020 and costs associated with maintenance have increased. Across the country, the deferred maintenance backlog at universities is estimated at $17-billion.
And although university attendance remains high, there are signs that students are increasingly questioning the value of a university education. A national opinion poll by Abacus presented at a meeting of university presidents 18 months ago showed the share of Canadians with a positive impression of the country’s universities had dropped by nine points, from 59 to 50 per cent.
The University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. Its president, Michael Benarroch, told The Globe that he believes most families still see a university education as the best path to success for their children.JOHN WOODS/The Canadian Press
But for the nine leaders assembled around the table, the issues that Canada faces – the need to maximize economic resources, find new global markets, increase defence capabilities and capitalize on strength in artificial intelligence and quantum computing – will all require the capacity and knowledge held at its universities.
Michael Benarroch, president of the University of Manitoba, said that even if the public perception of universities has grown more skeptical, there has been no impact on enrolment. Most families still see a university education as the best path for their children to achieve what they want in life, he said.
Dr. Benarroch, whose academic background is in economics, said Canada “is once again realizing that there’s a role to play for universities in driving innovation and economic growth.”
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The federal budget – which promised $1.7-billion over 13 years to hire top international research talent, included universities in the Defence Industrial Strategy, and made them eligible for a multibillion-dollar infrastructure program – was taken by the sector as recognition of the value of universities as economic partners.
There was also relief that the government reduced spending-cut targets for the national research granting councils to 2 per cent, when many federal departments were asked to cut much deeper.
The biggest issue that many universities face is with their respective provincial governments, which have primary responsibility for funding postsecondary education. In many cases, the provinces have allowed operating grants to stagnate, and have encouraged universities to recoup the difference through international student tuition fees.
“The fragmentation of responsibility in Canada makes us an easy target,” said Graham Carr, president of Concordia University.
Philip Steenkamp, president of Royal Roads University in B.C., said he worries about the fragility in the system at the moment. The B.C. government announced an independent review of postsecondary sustainability on Nov. 25, saying that many institutions are in a critical position.
“There’s a financial sustainability crisis brewing in the country. Capped tuition, stagnant funding, the loss of international students,” Dr. Steenkamp said. “The next 12 to 18 months will be really telling.”