Ontario announces 3% cap on tuition hikes

Ontario has reduced the amount colleges and universities can raise tuition each year.

Brad Duguid, minister of training, colleges and universities, announced a new framework on Thursday which would force schools to cap their annual tuition hikes at three per cent on average over the next four years.

Though the previous rules allowed a five-per-cent increase, Duguid says colleges and universities will still be able to provide quality education with the fees they can charge.

“This new tuition policy strikes a balance,” Duguid said in a release.

“We will … continue to ensure that students have access to higher education based on ability to learn, not ability to pay.”

The fees for some programs can go up more or less as long as the average for the school is three per cent overall. Tuition for professional and graduate programs in universities and high-demand college programs can increase by five per cent, down from eight per cent.

“This new restriction on tuition makes it even more difficult for colleges to deliver quality programs to students,” said Colleges Ontario president Linda Franklin.

“We are disappointed the province continues to force colleges to assume a disproportionately unfair share of the burden.”

The Canadian Federation of Students wants the province to do more by reducing tuition fees for all students by 30 per cent over three years.

It says government funding makes up only half of university and college budgets, compared to 75 per cent 30 years ago. Since 2006, tuition fees have increased as much as 71 per cent.

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