Ontario’s post-secondary education sector needs to spend more or service levels will drop: FAO reports
New Financial Accountability Office review predicts the sector will see a funding shortfall in 2027-28.
By Amy van den Berg ยท CBC News
The province’s university and college sectors will need to spend more to sustain their current service levels, according to reports from Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office (FAO).
The watchdog’s reports, released Wednesday (September 23, 2026), follow an independent review of provincial spending plans, outlined in the government’s 2026 budget.
The reviews serve as a benchmark to show whether the 2026 budget’s spending plan is likely to maintain, improve or reduce the quality and accessibility of various services, according to the FAO.
The report said the province’s last budget predicted spending for the ministry of colleges and universities will decrease at an average annual rate of 2.2 per cent, but estimates the ministry’s spending would need to grow by an average annual rate of 3.2 per cent over the next three years to maintain current service levels.
According to the FAO reports, these numbers mean the ministry will see a funding shortfall starting in 2027-28.
The reports also show that spending is growing at a significantly slower pace compared to the years between 2022-23 and 2025-26, when accounting for inflation. In that period, average annual spending growth for the universities and colleges sector was 5.3 per cent.
Read the full report at this link:
Financial Accountability Office of Ontario