Ford government faces criticism for slashing OSAP grants, lifting tuition freeze
Starting next fall, the provincial government will permit colleges and universities to raise tuition by up to two per cent annually, while reducing Ontario Student Assistance Program grants.
On February 12, Ontario Minister of Colleges and Universities Nolan Quinn announced the end to the provincial government’s freeze on tuition fees, which has been in place since 2019, allowing colleges and universities to raise their tuition fees by two per cent each year for the next three years.
According to the Ontario Newsroom, before the 2019-2020 Ontario tuition reduction, Ontario students experienced the highest tuition rates in any Canadian province. The tuition freeze included a 10 per cent tuition cut and prevented colleges and universities from increasing their tuition. This policy lasted seven years.
Prior to the tuition freeze raise, the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) provided Ontario students with a maximum of 85 per cent in grants and a minimum of 15 per cent in loans to pay off their tuition. However, the new policy will only offer students a maximum of 25 per cent in grants and a minimum of 75 per cent in loans.
One grade 12 student in London, Ontario, Xingtong Shan, told CBC News that the lift on the tuition freeze and the overall increase in post-secondary tuition rates “actually discourages people to study [and] to continue their studies in university.” Shan thinks “it encourages people to find a job rather than keep studying.”
Doug Ford stands behind the decision
Addressing the backlash over the province’s decision to cut grants for post-secondary students, Premier Doug Ford argued he “fought for [students] for seven and a half years, not letting universities and college(s) raise tuition,” but that “the situation that Ontario was facing wasn’t sustainable any longer” and he faced “massive pressure from the sector” to end the freeze, according to Global News.
According to CTV News, Ford told reporters that, had the tuition freeze continued, “institutions could have been forced to close without the ability to generate additional revenue.”
To deal with this change, Ford said students “have to invest in their future” and should focus on program majors such as trades or STEM instead of ”basket-weaving courses” because “those are where the jobs are.”
“I will continue supporting and fighting for students even though they’re probably upset right now, but I’ve heard some nightmare stories on the other side…about kids going out there buying fancy watches and cologne…that doesn’t fly with the taxpayers,” said Ford.
“We are accountable to the taxpayers,” said Ford. The taxpayers want to be assured that students are using their money to “actually… graduate and move forward.”
CFS-O: Hands off our education, hands off our OSAP
The Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario (CFS-O) expressed their outrage on their Instagram account @cfson, stating, “The Ford government’s decision to open the floodgate to tuition increases AND the decimation of OSAP will destroy what’s left of education in Ontario. Enough is enough—it’s time to take to the streets and flex the true power of students in the province.”
The CFS-O calls on students, instructors, parents, and community members to join them in protest on March 4 at 12:30 p.m. in Queen’s Park. Additionally, the CFS-O launched an Emailer tool whereby students can sign their names in support and prompt the union to send an email to their member of provincial parliament on their behalf.
The CFS-O states, “We will continue to organize and demand accessible and free education because education is a right, not a privilege.”
