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The Lakehead University Student Union (LUSU) says changes being made to Ontario’s post-secondary funding will have detrimental effects on students at both its Orillia and Thunder Bay campuses.
On Feb. 12, Ontario’s Ministry of Colleges and Universities announced $6.4 billion over four years to support post-secondary institutions in the province. However, it’s also ending the province’s seven-year tuition freeze and making significant changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) grant structure starting this fall.
This means colleges and universities are now able to raise tuition by two per cent annually for the next three years. After that, it may increase by up to two per cent or the three-year average rate of inflation.
At the same time, OSAP grants will be capped at 25 per cent of aid packages — down from up to 85 per cent currently available to students with the highest financial need — with at least 75 per cent provided as loans.
“These for us represent a significant structural shift in how student aid’s delivered,” said LUSU president Aliss Chavarri.
“This is very concerning for middle-income background students and also Indigenous students that are very important for the Lakehead community.”
About 9,300 students attend Lakehead University, consisting of about 6,800 students at the Thunder Bay campus and 2,300 students in Orillia.
As an international student, Chavarri doesn’t qualify for OSAP herself. However, about 45 per cent of Lakehead students receive OSAP based on financial need, LUSU says.
“These policies disproportionately affect institutions like Lakehead, where access and affordability are foundational,” Chavarri said in a news release issued by LUSU on Thursday.
According to LUSU:
- 35 per cent of Lakehead students are first-generation learners.
- 55 per cent of Lakehead’s domestic undergraduates come from rural or northern communities.
- More than 12 per cent of Lakehead students identify as Indigenous.
- Nearly 90 per cent of Lakehead students face at least one barrier to accessing post-secondary education, while around 60 per cent face multiple barriers.
“Post-secondary education is a public good,” LUSU Orillia’s vice president Dhanvi Gahlawat said in Thursday’s news release.
“When financial risk and service stability are transferred onto individual students, we move further away from education as a shared social investment and closer to education as a privilege for the few.”
While the $6.4-billion funding boost for colleges and universities is urgently needed to address challenges like declining domestic enrolment and caps on international student permits, Chavarri said it’s just a drop in the bucket.
“I don’t think it closes the long-standing funding gap,” she said. “I would like to see this go towards more grants.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he has been fielding thousands of complaints since the province announced sweeping changes to its OSAP program. He’s urging students not to pick “basket-weaving courses,” and instead invest in education that gives them in-demand jobs, like health care or trades.
Meanwhile, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security Nolan Quinn says these changes will benefit post-secondary institutions and students alike.
“Our government is not only ensuring the sustainability of our colleges, universities and Indigenous institutes, but also preparing our graduates with the in-demand skills they need to meaningfully find good-paying, rewarding careers, while continuing to keep education accessible and keep costs down for students and their families,” Quinn said in a news release Feb. 12.
CBC News has reached out to Lakehead University for comment and will update this story with its response.
‘These changes are interconnected’
LUSU is also flagging concerns about the regulatory impacts of Ontario’s Bill 33, known as the Supporting Children and Students Act, which it says “may introduce further uncertainty around ancillary fees, including student union and institutional service funding.”
“For students at Lakehead, these changes are interconnected,” Chavarri said. “When you increase tuition, reduce grant-based aid, and potentially destabilize student-funded services at the same time, the impact on students is significant.”
“Student unions across Ontario provide essential services, including food security programs, equity centres, mental health advocacy, peer support, and campus community programming, many of which are funded through ancillary fees that students have democratically decided upon,” LUSU says.
“Regulatory uncertainty under Bill 33 raises concerns about the long-term stability of those supports, which are already facing pressures.”
LUSU plans to appeal to local MPPs and work alongside student unions through the Canadian Federation of Students — Ontario to make its voice heard.
“Some of the domestic students that attend Lakehead relied on OSAP and decided to pursue higher education because of this option — so now that this government has announced this shift, I believe that a portion of the students are going to reconsider pursuing higher education,” Chavarri said.
“The students are not prepared to assume these costs.”
