Ontario’s economy faces significant challenges from evolving international threats, underscoring the urgent need to prioritize workforce development. Building a resilient labour force is essential to sustaining the province’s communities and ensuring long-term economic prosperity.
As the cornerstone of Ontario’s economy, college graduates provide the advanced skills and expertise required to build critical infrastructure, including homes, highways and transit systems, while supporting the development of thriving communities. Public colleges in Ontario are pivotal drivers of economic growth, particularly in trades, technology and applied sciences—sectors urgently requiring workforce development and investment.
As Ontario navigates global uncertainties and related economic challenges, the province’s post-secondary sector offers practical solutions. In this pre-budget submission, Colleges Ontario calls on the government to take decisive action and:
- Regularize the Postsecondary Education Sustainability Fund into ongoing base funding.
- Boost operating grants to offset the ongoing structural deficits for our domestic students and grow future-ready graduates in key sectors such as trades, technology and applied science that meet labour demands including those required to address the global threat of tariffs.
- Continue the expanded funding for the Small, Northern and Rural Grant to support colleges serving northern and rural communities.
- Modernize funding models to incentivize part-time enrolment so that more students can learn and earn and to upskill our workforce.
Read our complete budget submission here: Colleges Ontario's 2025 budget submission