Ontario’s colleges warn of more troubles ahead amid call for more investment

Ontario’s financially strained colleges are calling for a boost in provincial funding, with a group representing public colleges warning that a lack of investment hurts domestic students, the labour market and economic growth across the province. 

Colleges Ontario, which advocates for the province’s 24 public colleges, shared an update of the sector’s ongoing financial woes in its 2026 pre-budget submission Wednesday.

The association projects the college sector will face a deficit of up to $1.5 billion by 2027-28, due to the ongoing tuition freeze in the province and the sharp drop in international students since the federal government first began tightening requirements and capping numbers in late 2023 and early 2024. 

“Colleges supply more than half the workers in sectors facing the most acute shortages that directly affect our local and provincial economies,” Maureen Adamson, president and CEO of Colleges Ontario, said in a statement.

“Without sustainable, predictable funding, training capacity will continue to shrink just as demand is growing and workers leave the workforce.”

Major cuts to programs, staff

Colleges have cut $1.4 billion in costs over the past year, according to the group, by slashing more than 600 programs and more than 8,000 staff positions.

But further federal changes around international students permits — amid already plummeting enrolment of students from abroad — will worsen the system’s already precarious state, the association said.

Colleges Ontario is calling for $1.5 billion in temporary and sustained investment from the province, including:

• A boost in operating grants and adjustment of the college tuition formula to close the per-student funding gap. The province cut tuition by 10 per cent in 2019 and has maintained that rate ever since.
• Support for creating more space in high-priority programs for sectors like skilled trades, technology, health care and advanced manufacturing.
• Additional and ongoing support for small, northern, rural and French-language colleges.
• A three-year “collaboration and innovation” fund to support partnerships in areas like cybersecurity, finance, HR systems and more.

Update ‘in the coming months:’ minister

Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges and Universities, said this week that an update of Ontario’s post-secondary funding formula is forthcoming, but would not disclose whether it would arrive before or be included in the Ontario budget this spring. 

“It’s been over a decade since our funding formula has been really reviewed at this level and we want to ensure that our post-secondary institutions are sustainable moving forward,” he told reporters in Toronto on Wednesday, noting that review work has been going on for about a year.

“We’re just wrapping up the consultations at this point. Looking forward to announcing further funding for the sector in the coming months.”

WATCH | Restrictions on students from abroad lead to program cuts:

Foreign student caps leading cash-starved colleges to cut programs

New federal limits on international student enrolments are prompting deep cuts at cash-starved post-secondary institutions, with some Ontario community colleges forced to scrap dozens of programs.

A day earlier, Quinn announced $242 million toward facilities maintenance, repair and upgrades and the renewal or purchase of equipment and learning resources by colleges and universities.

Facing declining provincial funding in the past decade, Canadian colleges and universities began increasingly turning to tuition revenue from higher-paying international students. Previously encouraged by both provincial and federal governments, the move was flagged as “a risky formula” in a 2021 report by Ontario’s auditor general.

That report found that across Ontario’s two dozen public colleges, 68 per cent of all tuition fees came from international students and singled out Ontario — which represents more than 40 per cent of all college students in Canada — as the Canadian province providing the lowest amount of funding for full-time domestic students.