From her own student experience to now, provincial NDP leader Marit Stiles feels that the largest difference in the post-secondary experience is the money.

During her visit to UW on her All In For Ontario tour this past summer, Stiles, leader of the official opposition of Ontario, sat down with Imprint to share her thoughts on the issues surrounding post-secondary institutions, including tuition freezes and Bill 33. When asked what she felt had changed for students since her time studying at Carleton, Stiles pointed out the stark difference in the financial side of things, for both students and their schools. 

“I think it’s a lot tougher now. There’s no question,” she said. “When I talk to students today and I hear about the difficulty [of] just covering the basics like food, and rent, and how many jobs people are juggling just to get through… I can’t even imagine it.” 

In a few weeks’ time, Stiles will be back to Queen’s Park, where post-secondary issues will be on the docket. Discussions during this period could determine whether several controversial changes to post-secondary institutions will pass. These include Bill 33’s potential to allow students to opt out of key student union fees and an end to the seven-year tuition freeze implemented by the Ford government. 

The freeze, along with years of underfunding, has contributed to the increasingly large deficits that post-secondary institutions are facing, with UW’s own shortfall sitting at $75 million for the 2024-2025 operating budget. Though the government provided a $1.2 billion package to post-secondary institutions in February 2024, the Council of Ontario Universities made clear that more funding would be necessary. In fact, a report written by the government’s own blue-ribbon panel recommended $1.9 billion in base funding over the next three years as well as a five per cent tuition increase. 

In July, the Toronto Star reported that the province may lift the tuition freeze for the 2027-28 academic year. Given the reopening of tuition discussions, a tuition hike may also be on the table. Stiles said that while she understands the financial pressure post-secondary institutions are under, the government should “pay its fair share” rather than increase the burden on students already struggling to keep up.  “If the government does end up increasing tuition at all or letting universities and colleges increase tuition, they better come forward with some serious increases in student assistance as well,” she said. “We cannot … force institutions to bear that burden either, or students.” 

However, when asked for her plan on bringing financial stability to post-secondary institutions, Stiles did not provide one, instead labelling years of underfunding from the provincial government as a failure to invest in the future. She also voiced concerns that students could increasingly bear the brunt of the financial shortfalls. “What I’m afraid of, and what I’m seeing is that universities are being forced to cut those supports that students need, which is really concerning, especially given how much I think a lot of students are struggling right now,” she said. 

One area where UW students have felt the pressure is the search for housing. A 2024 report found that even with the most student housing of any Canadian city, it still fell 5,000 units short of demand. Data recently released by the Ford government shows that it achieved less than 80 per cent of its 2024 housing targets. 

On this topic, Stiles had a more concrete plan: to create Homes Ontario, an organization that would partner with non-profits and post-secondary institutions to build “millions of homes” to meet those organizations’ existing plans or needs and create more options for Ontarians. This could include student co-op housing, student residences, and rent-geared-to-income housing.

Stiles pointed out Ontario’s history of similar initiatives, stating that Homes Ontario would fill the gap of a public affordable housing organization that other provinces have. She said the housing crisis could not really be addressed until the usage of private contractors to build housing was re-evaluated, stating, “no big developer is looking to build truly affordable, deeply affordable housing.” She also spoke of the need to bring back rent control, stating, “I think it’s really important not to forget that we also need to save the homes that people already have.” 

Another key area of focus for the post-secondary sector has been Bill 33, introduced in late May to a chorus of concerns from various student- and school-representative organizations, including WUSA, who sent formal feedback to the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security in June. Schedule three of the bill, which amends the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act, contains four amendments regarding applicant assessment, research security, and student fees.  

One of the amendments is the authorization from the province for “regulations to be made” by the Lieutenant Governor on fees students are charged for or required to pay. To Stiles, the amendment represented a “false choice” the government was providing students. She posited that the government was using it to try and placate worries about tuition hikes by offering a way to save money on fees. “Well, that’s going to be peanuts compared to what students will pay in tuition hikes,” she said. 

In a statement to Imprint, WUSA warned that the bill “poses serious risk to student-led services which students themselves have deemed essential,” including WUSA’s Food Support Service, RAISE, the Glow Centre, the Clubs system, and WUSA-run events. They pointed out that these services often fill  in for supports that post-secondary institutions themselves would not be able to afford. 

They also echoed concerns from the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) that the bill’s amendments around student fees would affect the autonomy of student unions. In a press release regarding bill 33, the OUSA stated that “students should be the primary decision-makers over the ancillary fees they pay, and government oversight of this undermines the democratic process that should remain in the hands of students.” Both OUSA and WUSA pointed out the similarities between Bill 33 and the Student Choice Initiative, pushed by the Ford government in 2019, which allowed students to opt out of fees deemed non-essential by the government. The initiative was ultimately deemed unlawful by provincial courts.

Another of the bill’s controversial amendments is the requirement for schools to “assess applicants based on merit and to publish the criteria and process to be used for assessment into programs of study.” WUSA echoed OUSA’s feedback to the government that institutions be allowed to set their own admissions criteria to advance specific equity goals. 

“I think this is kind of an unfortunate adopting of… a lot of what we’ve seen happening in the United States right now. It’s an attack on equity and an attack on inclusion and it’s getting into an area that really, I don’t think the government should be meddling around with too much,” Stiles said, ultimately labelling it as a “distraction” from the main issue of underfunding post-secondary institutions. Referring to layoffs in the post-secondary sector projected to impact at least 8,000 people, she voiced concerns about the impact students could feel in the form of service reductions and reiterated what she felt was the government’s responsibility to “properly fund and invest in our future.” 

When asked for advice she had to give to students looking to get involved in local politics and decision-making, Stiles underscored the importance of students getting in touch with their student union and student representatives, stating that even amongst studies, co-op, and job searching, “don’t forget that you do have a voice and your voice matters.” She noted that while students and their representatives may not always see eye-to-eye, “they do have a responsibility to listen to you and… they will register the fact that you called them or that you emailed them, or that you wrote to them.” 

She added that students can aid in fighting “distractions” imposed by Ford by spreading information on how to come together to support each other. “Let’s think about how we come up with policies and approaches that bring us together more,” she said. “It’s hard for students today. But imagine how hard it’s going to be for the students of tomorrow. It’s going to get worse if we don’t do something.”