Ontario university budgets for 2026-27 have avoided tumbling over a previously predicted financial cliff in the wake of significant new provincial funding announced this winter, but some universities say they still need to make cuts to balance their books.
The Ontario government's February announcement of an additional $6.4 billion over four years to colleges and universities, as well as the end of a seven-year tuition freeze, "went a long way to closing a growing funding gap by a historic degree," said Steve Orsini, president and CEO of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU), which lobbied the province for improved grants for several years in the face of relatively stagnant base funding and frozen tuition. Nevertheless, "there's still some heavy lifting that universities will have to do to continue the drive for long-term financial sustainability."
At the University of Waterloo, some of that heavy lifting includes a planned $20 million in cuts to help remedy a $33.7-million structural deficit, even though the university anticipates receiving a net of nearly $36-million more than last year in provincial operating grants.
"Without that additional funding, we would have been in a position for significantly more budget reduction requirements," said Jacinda Reitsma, the university's vice-president, administration and finance. "The financial relief is welcome but also the clarity on what we may expect in future years as we work through long-term planning."
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