JASON SETNYK
Following the leak of St. Lawrence College’s Efficiency and Accountability Review, which explicitly identifies campus closures as a possible cost-saving scenario, concerns have grown about the future of regional access to postsecondary education in Cornwall and Brockville.
The document, dated March 31, 2025, prepared with StrategyCorp and Deloitte, was submitted to the Ministry of Colleges and Universities.
As Ontario’s Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security-and a graduate of SLC-MPP Nolan Quinn was asked to clarify the province’s position, safeguards, and timeline for stable funding. Quinn was asked the following questions; instead, his press secretary provided a statement.
Questions to Minister Quinn:
What is your reaction to closure now being explicitly contemplated in the financial outlook?
Will the province categorically rule out closures of the Cornwall and Brockville sites in the 2026-2030 horizon? If not, what guardrails, approvals, and community-consultation requirements would be triggered before any decision proceeds?
What immediate actions is the government considering to stabilize colleges facing multi-year deficits-e.g., adjustments to the funding corridor and base grants, tuition policy changes, targeted regional-access funding, or bridge financing for one-time transition costs-so regional campuses aren’t forced into irreversible decisions?
Finally, when will colleges receive a multi-year funding outlook so boards can plan without emergency cuts?
Statement from Bianca Giacoboni, Press Secretary to Minister Quinn:
“Our government continues to support our colleges’ long-term success and sustainability. Last year, as part of the record-setting $1.3B investment into the postsecondary sector, our government provided funding for our colleges and universities to pursue third-party efficiency reviews to identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency. Boards of Governors are responsible for reviewing the recommendations and any plans in implementing recommendations from these reports, and St. Lawrence College leadership has been clear that the Cornwall and Brockville campuses will not be closing.
Funding for the postsecondary sector is the highest it’s ever been in the province’s history. In the last six months alone, our government has invested nearly a billion dollars into our colleges and universities to fund over 100,000 more seats in programs that produce graduates to meet Ontario’s labour market demands. This is on top of the $1.3B we invested last year, and the $5B we put into the sector every single year so they can continue delivering for our students.
As they have been, colleges will continue to receive multi-year funding agreements with the province through our Strategic Mandate Agreements, which span over 5 years, and were recently signed. We are currently in the process of a funding model review with our postsecondary partners to further update the model to allocate funding in a fair, predictable, and transparent manner.”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that efficiency reviews were a condition for future funding. In fact, the Ministry says they are not. The province provided funding for colleges to commission third-party reviews, but implementation decisions rest solely with each college’s Board of Governors. The Ministry has no role in that process. The online article has been updated to reflect this clarification.
Context check: The “record-setting” funding claim is accurate in nominal, aggregate dollars but incomplete without inflation and enrollment context.
The Blue-Ribbon Panel reports Ontario’s public funding per student was $11,471 for universities and $6,891 for colleges-57% and 44% of the rest-of-Canada averages. The touted “nearly $1.3B” refers to a multi-year, targeted package (e.g., efficiency reviews, added STEM seats), not a broad increase to core operating grants.
L’article Press Secretary to Quinn Responds to Leaked SLC Report est apparu en premier sur Cornwall Seaway News.
