Universities could lose up to CA$3.4 billion due to COVID-19

Canadian universities could lose as much as CA$3.4 billion (US$2.5 billion) this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Statistics Canada has projected, in large part due to a decrease in the number of foreign students, writes Vicky Fragasso-Marquis for The Canadian Press.

In a report published this week, Statistics Canada tried to estimate university budget losses for the 2020-21 school year. Tuition fees make up an increasingly large portion of university revenues, the agency said. In 2013-14, tuition fees accounted for 24.7% of school funding, while they made up 29.4% in 2018-19. The largest portion of university revenue comes from government funding, at 45.8%.

Statistics Canada said the increase in the proportion of tuition fees was caused by a growing number of foreign students, who pay higher tuition – almost five times as much as Canadian citizens. In 2017-18, foreign students alone paid about 40% of all tuition fees. Therefore, Statistics Canada said, universities could lose between CA$377 million and CA$3.4 billion – 0.8% to 7.5% of their total revenues – this academic year.
Full report on The Province site