Protecting Public Services
Public colleges give people the skills they need and keep communities resilient in a changing economy. After years of underfunding, a sudden federal cap on study permits has destabilized the system, driving program cuts, job losses, campus closures and shrinking opportunities for students. They need to be protected if we want a fair economy for all.
Public education and training are the backbone of a fair economy. Public colleges give people the skills they need and help communities stay resilient in a changing economy. Yet across Canada, policy has often treated post-secondary as a budget line to manage rather than core public infrastructure to invest in and protect.
After years of frozen tuition, underfunding, and over-reliance on international students, the system is now in a deepening crisis. Federal caps on international study permits, introduced without a parallel plan to stabilize funding, have triggered a financial shock that is leading to program cuts, job losses, campus closures, and shrinking opportunities for students. If we want a resilient economy and strong public services, we need to strengthen and protect public education and training.
This is an issue that reaches well beyond campuses. If left unchecked, it will leave Canada’s economy worse off.
All students are future workers.
Whether they’re in trades, colleges, universities, or union training centres, today’s students are tomorrow’s nurses, teachers, tradespeople, childcare workers, and more. Treating post-secondary as optional or primarily as a revenue source risks weakening our economy and public services over the long term.
We’ve built a fragile funding model on international students.
For years, public institutions have been underfunded and colleges and universities have increasingly relied on international tuition to fill the gap. When federal policy abruptly capped international student permits, the vulnerability of that model became clear.
Cuts are affecting the very programs governments say they need.
Program reductions are not limited to “extra” courses for international students. Colleges and universities are shrinking or closing programs in trades, technology, health care, early learning, social services, and other areas that are closely tied to labour-market needs.
Privatization and asset sales risk hollowing out the system.
In some communities, financial pressures are leading to campus closures, the sale of public lands, and a greater role for private partners in student housing and skills training. Large skills funds and employer-driven training can drift funding away from public institutions.
This is not a resilient skills strategy. If we want an economy that can withstand shocks, from trade tensions to technological change, we need stable, publicly funded education and training capacity.
1. Emergency funding to stabilize public PSE
The federal government should inject emergency funding into public colleges and universities to prevent cuts to programs, services and jobs. Funding must be targeted to frontline programs, services and staff, not capital projects or administration, and tied to a long-term funding plan.
2. Fix PGWP rules for public colleges
Expand Post-Graduation Work Permit eligibility to more public college programs, based on provincial, territorial and local labour needs, including sectors like business, hospitality and other service industries.
3. Protect and support international students and graduates
Provide real support for international students and graduates already in Canada, including those with expiring permits, ensure clear pathways to permanent immigration status, and reject scapegoating them for broader problems in housing, health care and post-secondary education.
4. Renew the federal role in funding public PSE
Create a dedicated federal post-secondary education transfer and a Post-Secondary Education Act that set national conditions for a publicly delivered, accessible, affordable, high-quality public PSE system.