The Ford government will end its freeze on post-secondary tuition this year, allowing struggling colleges and universities to raise fees as they adapt to the reality of fewer international students.
Beginning in September, post-secondary institutions will be able to increase their tuition fees by two per cent per year for three years before switching to an inflation-informed increase or a further two per cent annually, whichever is lower.
The change will also come with an increase of $6.4 billion in core funding over the next four years, which the government is targeting at colleges and universities offering courses related to “in-demand careers.”
The government said the increase will mean that operating funding for Ontario’s post-secondary sector jumps by roughly 30 per cent to an annual total of $7 billion.
Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security Nolan Quinn said the move would ensure “the sustainability” of colleges and universities while preparing students “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.”
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The new funding is also designed to create 70,000 new places, the government announced.
“Postsecondary education is one of Ontario’s most important long-term investments —and today’s announcement helps ensure that investment remains strong, responsible and sustainable for years to come,” Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said in a written statement.
Despite the fee increase, Quinn said he was still expecting colleges and universities to find new areas to trim.
“Everyone needs to be at the table, including Colleges Ontario and the Council of Ontario Universities,” he acknowledged. “There are still efficiencies that need to be found across the whole sector.”
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The government is launching its new approach around three priorities for the sector: preparing students for in-demand careers, maintaining access to post-secondary education and keeping the sector sustainable.
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Quinn said Ontario will also reform its loans and grants system to substantially reduce the amount of grant funding available to students.
The current proportion is about 85 per cent grants to 15 per cent loans, the government said, but starting this fall, students will receive a maximum of 25 per cent of their OSAP funding as grants.
“These decisions will preserve student access to education for decades to come,” Quinn added.
Colleges, universities welcome changes
Representatives from universities and colleges said the funding and ability to implement “modest” tuition-fee increases will ease the pressures they were facing.
“This new investment strengthens the very foundation our universities provide, greater sustainability and long-term planning to support our students and local communities,” said Steve Orsini, president and CEO of the Council of Ontario Universities.
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Colleges, which have been particularly hard hit by cuts to the number of international students, also welcomed the announcement.
“Ontario public college graduates are essential across a wide range of industries, including advanced manufacturing, construction, transportation, mining and energy and health care,” said Maureen Adamson, president and CEO of Colleges Ontario.
Ontario NDP MPP Peggy Sattler, however, said the province was shifting costs onto students during a cost-of-living crisis.
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“(Premier Doug) Ford’s plan to hike tuition and cut OSAP grants will make it impossible for young people to build a future in Ontario. He is downloading the costs of his cuts to students and families,” she wrote in a statement.
“When young people cannot afford to go to college or university, or graduate buried in debt, we are not just hurting students, we are damaging Ontario’s economic future.”
Major change for struggling sector
The funding boost and tuition increase are the first major financial changes for colleges and universities since an injection of just over $1 billion in early 2024, a number far below what a panel of experts assembled by the government had recommended.
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That money came after the federal government introduced a cap on the number of international students coming into Canada, hitting Ontario’s post-secondary education sector particularly hard.
The province’s public colleges and universities have endured two years of cuts and layoffs since the cap was introduced and then later tightened.
Shortly after the Progressive Conservatives won the 2018 election, they cut college tuition by 10 per cent and then froze it, with public colleges increasingly relying on international students to make up the shortfall.
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The new tuition framework would see provincial fees for students stay below 2019 levels until 2030.
“We must face the reality that our post-secondary landscape is very different than it was in 2019,” Quinn said. “In order to achieve financial stability, our institutions must be able to diversify their revenue beyond the government while still keeping costs low for students.”
Before the cap came into place, Ontario colleges were drawing an average of roughly 30 per cent of their revenue from international students.
The Ford government calculated on Thursday that the decrease in international students resulted in a loss of $2 billion in revenue per year for colleges and universities.
Colleges Ontario has said its members have already cut at least $1.8 billion, suspended 600 programs and shed 8,000 jobs. Several campuses across the province have also closed.
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— with files from The Canadian Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
