Ontario business and education leaders are calling on the Ford government to increase funding to colleges and universities as a strategy to defend the province from the looming threat of U.S. tariffs.
After Doug Ford swore in his new cabinet on Wednesday, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Colleges Ontario and the Council of Ontario Universities wrote an open letter to the new, third-term government calling for new funding.
The letter said years of “chronic underfunding” had left colleges and universities exposed. If that isn’t addressed, they said, cuts would have to be made that could compromise Ontario’s workforce.
“Without immediate and effective investments, institutions will be forced to make decisions that compromise the quality of education and limit accessibility, eroding the province’s reputation and ability to attract and retain talent,” the open letter wrote.
“They are already forced to turn away excellent students in high-demand programs and struggle to be competitive in the battle to attract global research talent. This is harming the dozens of Ontario communities that depend on their local post-secondary institutions as economic drivers and magnets that attract and retain bright young people.”
The ask to improve post-secondary funding from a key economic stakeholder for the Ford government comes as colleges, in particular, face an almost existential crisis following a cap on the number of international students.
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In early 2024, the federal government capped the number of international students coming to Ontario. That decision led the province to massively reduce the number of foreign students at colleges and stopped the numbers from increasing at universities.
Domestic tuition was reduced in 2018 and then frozen by the Ford government. Since then, post-secondary institutions have relied heavily on international students to keep the lights on — with roughly 32 per cent of college revenue coming from international students.
“It doesn’t have to be this way,” the open letter said, calling for massive new investment.
The three organizations asked for increased base operating revenue, to fund enrolment expansion at post-secondary organizations, more research funding and to strengthen partnerships in the sector.
“After years of financial challenges in the sector, your government has a historic opportunity to succeed where others fell short,” the letter continued.
“Investing in Ontario’s colleges and universities is the best strategic choice the government can make today to secure our province’s long-term prosperity.”
While the government did inject $1.3 billion into the post-secondary sector last year, the funds fell well short of the $2.5 billion the government’s own expert panel had recommended before the international student decease.
Several colleges have closed campuses since the cap came into place, many have laid off staff and York University suspended enrolment in several of its programs.
Steve Orsini, the president and CEO of the Council of Ontario Universities, said the threat of U.S. tariffs provided the perfect opportunity for the province to revisit the struggling sector — and offer meaningful help.
“We’re faced with economic threats from the U.S., universities play a vital role, so working with the government, we need to double down on training the students for the workforce of the future, driving innovation,” he told Global News.
“We believe investing in universities will help create better jobs, will help propel our industry to compete globally. Working together, we think we can help fight the U.S. that’s threatening our economy.”
Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has levelled 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. A further round of levies, which the U.S. has described as “reciprocal tariffs,” is due to come into force on April 2.
The Ford government said it would spend another $500 million on STEM programs and skilled work — an election promise — and pointed to previous investments.
“As part of our plan to protect Ontario, we are investing over $500 million to expand STEM and skilled trades programs in Ontario, so that students can get into rewarding careers that address the province’s current and future labour market needs,” a government sopThis is on top of the $1.3B we invested to stabilize the sector last year – the single largest investment in over a decade- and in addition to the $5 billion in operating funding we put into the sector each year.”
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