Labour, student, and post-secondary advocates say more money is needed for Ontario’s colleges to respond to the fallout of the U.S. trade dispute.
They estimate the dollar figure to be over $1.35 billion.
They point to government estimates that identify the need for at least 225,000 spots to access the programs.
President of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union J.P. Hornick says investments in community colleges can help workers caught up in the trade war dispute.
“That would be real leadership in hard and uncertain times and with a far higher return on investment than the tens of billions that are being pledged for tariff relief,” says Hornick.
“Funding our colleges is an insurance policy. It is an investment in Ontario’s future.”
According to the group, 21 of 24 Ontario colleges have already initiated program cuts, staff layoffs and suspended intakes.
Programs related to paramedics, early childhood education and forestry have been shut down at some campuses.
Confederation College recently announced the suspension of eleven programs in the next school year.
The group says bridge funding is immediately needed to keep post-secondary campuses open and preserve local access to programs.
Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, Nagmendra Narain, says without it, they will be ill-prepared to meet student demand.
“All of this will leave Ontario’s students and Ontarians themselves with less options and brain power for the fights that are ahead of us and, in fact, are immediately upon us at this current juncture,” says Narain.
The group adds tuition fees now account for 68% of the college system’s revenues.
They add that continued declines in provincial funding have left Ontario ranking dead last for per-student funding, at 56% of the national average.
