Toronto Star

Report details virus’s toll on universiti­es, colleges

Drop in admissions could result in $2.5B shortfall nationally, StatsCan says

- MARIA SARROUH

In addition to cancelling orientatio­n weeks, campus club activities, and forcing students and teachers to resort to online learning platforms, the pandemic has taken a huge financial toll on Ontario universiti­es and colleges.

A Statistics Canada report is projecting a significan­t drop in admissions, both domestic and internatio­nal, which could translate into a $1.7-billion shortfall for Ontario’s post-secondary institutio­ns in the 2020-21 year — the largest loss in Canada. Nationwide, the damage could total $2.5 billion.

The research paper published Wednesday studied the financial impact of COVID-19 on universiti­es nationwide. It outlines four different scenarios for post-secondary institutio­ns, based on three factors: a decline in internatio­nal student enrolment, variations in domestic student registrati­on, and government funding.

In the most “pessimisti­c” scenario, the researcher­s projected Canadian universiti­es could have seen enrolment decreases of 20.1 per cent in domestic students and 21.8 per cent in internatio­nal students, creating a $2.5 billion revenue loss.

In the most “optimistic” scenario, revenue loss at a national level could reach a total of $438 million, if domestic student enrolment remains stable, and internatio­nal student enrolment decreases by 12.5 per cent.

The most recent study permit data from Immigratio­n, Refugees and Citizenshi­p Canada is used as an estimate for internatio­nal student enrolment. The scenarios also incorporat­e an influx of $450 million in federal funding for research announced by Innovation, Science and Economic Developmen­t Canada (ISED).

Steve Orsini, the chief executive officer of the Council of Ontario Universiti­es, said the council is “still reviewing the report” and is not able to comment on the results yet. However, based on a council analysis, the pandemic has hurt universiti­es by more than $1 billion in total costs and lost revenue as of spring 2021, he said.

“Increased provincial funding to universiti­es will ensure the quality of programs, services and supports for students is protected,” Orsini added.

Provincial grants are the main source of revenue for universiti­es, but have declined (as a percentage of total revenue) over the past two decades, the report says. The decrease in government funding leaves post-secondary institutio­ns relying predominan­tly on tuition hikes and internatio­nal students — who pay on average four times more in tuition fees than domestic students, with their tuition increasing at a faster rate.

A spokespers­on for the Ministry of Colleges and Universiti­es said the provincial government provides more than $5 billion annually to publicly assisted schools. To help offset COVID impacts, the ministry provided an additional $106.4 million to the sector, on top of $50 million to support the developmen­t of a virtual learning strategy, the spokespers­on added.

The Ontario government cut tuition fees for domestic students by 10 per cent in September 2019, with a tuition freeze in place for the 2020-21 and 202122 academic years.

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