Provincial post-secondary students can expect to see the tuition freeze continue for the 2022-2023 school year.
The provincial government announced on March 23, 2022, that they will be extending the current tuition freeze for Ontario colleges and universities with hopes of further alleviating some of the financial stress of students and families.
“Our government recognizes that students and their families make huge sacrifices to attend college and university, so our government will continue to look for ways to reduce financial barriers for learners,” said Jill Dunlop, Minister of Colleges and Universities.
She continued, “By freezing tuition for another year, we are saying yes to ensuring that students have access to affordable, high-quality postsecondary education, and reducing the financial strain on families who have already faced so many challenges throughout the pandemic.”
This extension builds off of the historic 10 percent tuition reduction from the 2019-2020 school year, which was followed by two years of tuition freeze from 2020-2022.
Prior to the 2019-2020 tuition reduction, Ontario students were faced with the highest tuition rates in the country, the province has since dropped to the fourth-highest undergraduate degree tuition rates in Canada and the second-highest for graduate students.
The reduction and freeze of tuition over the past three years has provided students with approximately $450 million in financial relief compared to the 2018-2019 school year according to the province.
“Increasing the affordability of college and university is part of Ontario’s plan to help people get the training they need to get good-paying jobs,” said Minister Dunlop.
“By extending the tuition freeze, we will ensure that students can get the skills they need to succeed in a highly-competitive global economy,” she concluded.
On top of the reduction and freeze of tuition, the provincial government has invested significant COVID-19 Pandemic relief funds into the postsecondary sector.
The province invested $106.4 million into relieving the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic for publicly-assisted universities and colleges. An investment of $28.45 million was made into mental health supports and services for postsecondary students at publicly-assisted post-secondary education institutes.
Following two years of virtual learning, the provincial government has made the decision to invest $583 million over three years to help post-secondary learning institutes provide more modern and safe learning environments for students, both virtually and on campus.