A politician has warned the state is not providing enough help for suicide.An ‘epidemic’ is spreading among international students at private universities and vocational colleges.
Ontario lawmakers announced Feb. 26 that they would not only maintain the tuition freeze for local students, but also introduce legislation to “support student mental health, safe and inclusive campuses, and increase transparency in tuition fees.”
“Lowering costs for students and parents has never been more important,” Jill Dunlop, the state’s colleges minister, said at the time.
“Instead of burdening hard-working families with high tuition, we are making a historic investment to stabilize our colleges and universities,” she said.
The government's investment of $1.3 billion over three years includes $903 million for a new Higher Education Sustainability Fund starting in 2024/25. Of that amount, $203 million will provide financial assistance to institutions with “greater financial need.”
A total of $167.4 million will be used over three years for capital repairs and equipment, $100 million will support the cost of STEM programs at publicly funded institutions enrolled above current funding levels this year, and $65.4 million will be spent on research and innovation. Used to support .
Measures to strengthen supervision of vocational colleges are also being promoted.
A November 2023 Blue Ribbon report recommended that institutional board members should have core financial knowledge and risk management competencies.
Ontario said its new integrated enforcement efforts will “improve the efficiency of data management, documentation processes and compliance investigations to ensure timely responses to concerns and complaints.”
The proposed Strengthening Accountability and Student Support Act of 2024 would require colleges and universities to establish policies to combat racism and hate, as well as mental health and wellness supports and services.
This comes on top of a $23 million investment in mental health supports, including $8 million for a three-year postsecondary mental health action plan.
The bill is currently at second reading committee stage in the Ontario Legislature.
In a debate on March 7, provincial lawmaker Peggy Sattler, an opposition member of Ontario's New Democratic Party, said three-quarters of Ontario university tuition revenue is generated by international students.
“International students contribute $3.3 billion to our university tuition, which is significantly more than the $1 billion in domestic tuition and the $1.9 billion the government contributes to operating subsidies,” she said.
She blames the province's Ford government for creating “a massive revenue hole for our universities” by cutting operating subsidies.
During the era of the Progressive Conservative Party, which has been in power since 2018, leading the region, the number of public-private partnership contracts increased from 7 to 15.
In January, the state announced that no new PPP would be approved while the existing model was reviewed.
Sattler cited a report delivered by the former Liberal government in 2017 and a series of reports from the Auditor-General that said public universities were overly reliant on international student tuition.
She said the Auditor-General's 2022 report on post-bankruptcy Laurentian University urged the government to analyze the impact of tuition cuts and freezes on the university “to determine whether the impact of these policy decisions can be sustained.”
“They don’t understand that we need to provide adequate funding to higher education institutions.”
“I don’t think the government did that analysis when they presented their budget last week. Because if they had, they would have understood that we can't remove $2 billion in tuition revenue from our system without replacing it with something else. “It ensures the financial stability of the industry,” Sattler said.
that much The $1.3 billion investment “sounds like a lot of money,” Sattler added. “It’s a lot of money… [but an expert panel] It said the agency would need $2.5 billion in public funding over three years to stay afloat.
“JayIt is double the historic investment the government promised on February 27 to be maintained at the required level.
“meInternational student tuition has generated $3.3 billion in funding for Ontario universities. Half of that, at least half, is likely to disappear with the cap on international study permits, and the Secretary is providing $203 million in additional funding to help institutions that need greater financial help.”
Ontario says it is working with the post-secondary sector to allocate study permits available to educational institutions over the next two years.
According to estimates, the number of study permits approved in the state could be limited to about 140,000 next year.
Sattler's congressional colleagues Jamie West went further, saying “the chaos started with the Liberal government”, which left local support underfunded.
The Conservative and Liberal governments are “refusing” to pay the bills international students are paying, he said.
“The federal government's announcement will result in cuts of about $2 billion. The Conservative government's solution to this is to provide around $23 million in additional funding.
“What is wrong with these governments? They don't understand that we need to provide adequate funding to higher education institutions so that our students can succeed. This is not about freezing tuition or lowering tuition a little. It’s about paying the right price into the system so that higher education institutions like Laurentian University don’t have to fear bankruptcy and our students can succeed without a lifetime of debt.”
Ontario Liberal Member of Parliament, Adil Shamji said Ford's Conservative government had opened the floodgates to more than 500 private career colleges in the region.
“We have an epidemic of mental health issues. “Now we are experiencing an international suicide epidemic,” he said.
He criticized the fact that the Student Aid Act was limited to: Public universities and colleges.
“Let me once again emphasize my skepticism that this government is interested in doing anything about this. If they care, it's because this bill doesn't just affect public universities. “Ensuring mental health supports for students at private universities and career colleges would be enough, but it is not,” he said.
“Therefore, even after this has passed, despite the investments made over the past year, suicide will remain prevalent among international students at our local private and vocational colleges.”