Average Tuition In Canada Up 3.2 Per Cent

Student organizations don’t think the government is doing enough to keep tuition down

JENELLE PETRINCHUK STAFF

This fall, students returning to Canadian universities for undergraduate studies will be facing greater tuition increases than last year, according to Statistics Canada.

“Students can expect to pay on average 3.2 per cent more in tuition fees, almost twice the rate of growth in the previous academic year,” states the study.

Nationally, undergraduate students will be paying an average of $4,347 in tuition for the 2006-07 school year, which is $136 more than in 2005-06. This year’s average is almost triple what students were paying in 1990-91.

Phillippe Ouellette, national director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) said the rise in tuition is small for this year but he still thinks tuition fees are too high.

“The case is even if it’s just a small increase, or even if it’s just frozen, as is the case in some provinces, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything, because tuition is too high as it is,” said Ouellette.

Tuition fees rose in six provinces — with the largest increase in P.E.I. where tuition will rise 6.5 per cent — and remain virtually unchanged in Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Manitoba have tuition fees that are below the national average.

The tuition fee freeze is helping to keep costs down in some provinces, but according to Ouellette it isn’t enough. “A tuition freeze is great, because it provides a short-term benefit to a particular number of students, but as you know and as I know, a tuition fee freeze is not the long-term solution.”

Nationally, international students are also facing tuition increases. Throughout Canada they will be paying 4.1 per cent more this year compared to last year.

Ouellette stated that there are more expenses to attending university than just tuition and books. “[There] are living expenses, accommodations, food and all these other issues that come up with attending post-secondary school, so [this report] doesn’t really account for that.”

The study also points to rising additional compulsory (“ancillary”) fees. According to Statistics Canada these fees make up 12.5 per cent of a student’s total fees. These fees rose an average of 4 per cent from last year.

“The largest increase in additional compulsory fees is in Manitoba, with the next highest increase in Prince Edward Island,” states the study.

Amanda Aziz, national chairperson of the CFS, stated in a media release that, “The federal government was compelled by the federal Bill C-48 to freeze or reduce tuition fees, but the Prime Minister has failed to deliver.”

Bill C-48 is a budget amendment that committed up to $1.5 billion for the purposes of lowering the cost of post-secondary education.

“Prime Minister Harper must share the blame for every fee hike this fall,” continued Aziz.

Compulsory fees will be declining in three provinces: B.C., Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.

The survey makes it obvious that throughout Canada, tuition costs and fees are all very different. Ouellette agreed that there is no collaboration across Canada, and this is a problem.

“You should be able to go anywhere in Canada and receive a comparable education at a comparable price. This is not the case at all,” states Ouellette. He explained that Nova Scotian universities are charging an average of $2,000 more than the national average while Quebec has very low tuition in comparison to the rest of Canada.

“I think it’s all related to how provinces prioritize education,” said Ouellette.

The University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU) was a member of CASA for nine years. In 2005, UMSU left CASA and U of M students became members of CFS.