Saskatchewan’s focus on funding education has largely been centred on elementary and high schools across the province, as the province navigates reaching a contract agreement with the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation.
For the province’s post-secondary sector, they are searching for increased funding to battle inflation. And now, they will be receiving a boost as part of the 2024-25 budget.
In the 2024-25 budget released Wednesday, the province announced a one-time top-up of $12 million in operating funding for those institutions.
“Post-secondary education supports all sectors of the provincial economy and is key to helping meet our Growth Plan and Health Human Resources Action Plan goals,” Advanced Education Minister Gordon Wyant said in a release.
“This one-time increase serves to assist institutions manage cost pressures, better enabling them to maintain services for students, expand seats and introduce new quality programs, and ensure they remain responsive to labour market needs.”
The funding is available through an amendment to the current multi-year funding agreement between the government and the province’s post-secondary education institutions. This is the fourth and final year of the current agreement, with a new deal expected to be part of the discussions for the 2025-26 budget.
“Our costs have continued to rise, so we very much appreciate that the additional $2.4 million in this year’s budget will help offset the inflationary pressures we are facing and allow us to reinvest in areas that will support students,” University of Regina president and vice-chancellor Jeff Keshen said.
The top-up is part of the 2024-25 advanced education budget, which features total investments of $793 million. The institutions are to receive around $724 million in operating and capital grants this year, with funding to support training seat expansions and capital projects.
In total, the budget includes $58.9 million for capital projects, preventative maintenance and renewal at post-secondary institutions.
Some projects include $8.7 million for an electrical infrastructure upgrade at the U of S, $6.0 million for planning work on the Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s new Saskatoon campus, $6.3 million for a cooling tower replacement at the U of R, and $610,000 to expand the student health care centre at the U of R.
“We appreciate the one-time inflationary increase for our university,” University of Saskatchewan president and vice-chancellor Peter Stoicheff added.
“It is a recognition of the financial pressures our sector continues to face, will help the University of Saskatchewan continue to achieve excellence in our teaching, learning and research mission, and will contribute to a stronger Saskatchewan.”