Ontario’s universities are facing an “intractable financial situation” that requires politically viable solutions, writes University of Waterloo Professor Jeffrey Casello. Casello asserts that tuition cuts and stagnant government grants have reduced Ontario university revenues by 25% over the past decade, leaving some institutions at risk of failure. To rebuild public trust and show accountability, Casello proposes institution-level measures such as self-imposed faculty pay cuts, as well as sector-level measures and a review of redundancies between universities. With such proactive actions, he concludes, the provincial government may then turn its focus to reforms, such as those suggested by its blue ribbon panel, that would re-establish the sector’s viability.
