Canada’s existing chartered universities are regulated, publicly funded, non-profit universities.
The Ontario government has enacted legislation establishing private degree-granting post secondary institutions, including for-profit institutions. These private, for-profit universities will be the first in Canada, establishing what the Canadian Federation of Students is calling “a two-tiered education system.”
The introduction of private universities in Ontario comes on the heels of a $400 million cut to operating grants to universities in 1996 and the deregulation of tuition fees for professional and graduate students in 1998.
In May 2000, the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Association (OCUFA) issued a statement that these private universities are
“decoys employed by the government to deflect attention away from its own legacy of undermining the public system through years of underfunding.”
OCUFA also warned that the private universities would sap more money and resources from the public system “without enhancing either the quality or accessibility of a university education.”
Students attending these private universities will be eligible for loans under the Ontario Student Assistance Program, even though the maximum amount that an applicant can claim is $4 500.
In addition, under current free trade agreements, namely the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), private universities will be eligible for the same government funding provided to the public universities.
The Ontario government claims that by introducing private degree-granting institutions, it is expanding students’ choice. Given that tuition fees at these private institutions may be more than $ 20, 000, the question is, for whom is the choice being expanded?
For most, choice in education means an affordable, high quality post-secondary education.
The government-endorsed private universities will be exclusive places of privilege, open only to those who can afford to pay.
