In the past thirty years, tuition fees in Canada have grown to become the single largest expense for most university and college students. Dramatic tuition fee increases during the same period were the direct result of cuts to public funding for post-secondary education by the federal government and, to a somewhat lesser extent, provincial governments. Universities and colleges have had to compensate for this lack of funding by increasing tuition fees.

Despite post-secondary education having become a prerequisite for meaningful participation in most of the labour force, the responsibility for financing post-secondary studies is shifting increasingly onto individual students and their families. Between 1986 and 2006 government grants plummeted from 80 per cent to less than 57 per cent of university operating revenue. The direct result has been the doubling of the share of university budgets that are funded by tuition fees.

Today, tuition fees are increasing at a faster rate than any other cost faced by students. According to Statistics Canada’s Youth in Transition Survey, 70 per cent of high school graduates who do not go on to post-secondary education cite financial reasons as the main factor. One in four of those cite debt aversion as their principal deterrent. Moreover, research has consistently found that high up-front costs are a significant barrier to attending college or university for many students.

The result of skyrocketing tuition fees is a system that is increasing the gap between rich and poor. Domestic students are not the only ones who face challenges accessing post-secondary education. International students have faced some of the largest fee increases. Tuition fees for international students now average over $15,000 per year, approximately three times the amount charged to most Canadian students. Some provinces have gone so far as to completely deregulate international tuition fees, allowing universities and colleges to generate revenue from international students well above cost-recovery levels.

While the up-front costs of post-secondary education have risen dramatically, in the last decade every province has at some point either frozen or reduced tuition fees, and public opinion polling consistently finds that an overwhelming majority of Canadians oppose tuition fee increases. 

Students are asking for:

• the progressive reduction of tuition and ancillary fees at public post-secondary institutions across the country, including reduced post-residency fees for graduate students;
• the elimination of differential fees for all students (professional, out of province, and international students);
• the development of a dedicated cash-transfer payment guided by principles set out in a federal Post-Secondary Education Act for the purpose of reducing tuition fees and improving quality of teaching, learning, and research infrastructure at colleges and universities.