The current model is in danger of collapse. Too many universities are caught in a spiral of fund-raising to provide education of diminishing quality. Dramatic funding cuts dating back to the 1990s mean universities have come to depend on part-time contract instructors, higher tuition fees and fundraising to balance the books.

The result is precarious employment for many highly educated academics, crushing debt loads for graduates as they begin their adult lives, and lost opportunities for many who simply forego higher education.

The federal government needs to reinvest in the system. The Green budget allocates $10 billion to post-secondary and trade school supports.

• Make college and university tuition free for all Canadian students.
• Forgive the existing student debt that is held by the federal government.
• Tie funding in federal-provincial transfers to universities, providing more to universities and colleges with a measurable focus on student-professor contact, mentorship, policies of inclusion and tenure track hires.
• Remove the two per cent cap on increases in education funding for Indigenous students and ensure all Indigenous youth have access to post-secondary education.

We can afford free tuition – and we can’t afford not to

Free tuition will be financed by redirecting existing spending on bursaries, tuition tax credits, saved costs of administering the student loan system, and the hundreds of millions of dollars of student loan defaults written off every year. Tuition scholarships provided by colleges and universities can be redirected to offset other student costs.

Our society is stronger when the citizenry is informed, critical and well educated. Moreover, post-secondary education is part of Canada’s treaty obligations to Indigenous Peoples and a key focus for reconciliation.