Indigenous Education in Ontario (2011)

Access to education for Indigenous - First Nation, Inuit and Métis - people is a right enshrined in signed treaties and recognized in Canada's Constitution. The legacy of colonialism, residential schools and racism has imposed significant barriers to Indigenous peoples' access to post-secondary education. Despite the moral and legal responsibility of government to ensure access to education, financial barriers prevent many Indigenous people from attending a college or university.

The factsheet, Indigenous Education in Ontario, outlines the significant gap in educational attainment between the Indigenous and overall population in Ontario. It also describes the history of funding for Indigenous education and highlights the substantial funding gap that has led to thousands of Indigenous people being shut out from pursuing post-secondary education. It is essential that government funding is not only restored from the past cuts, but also enhanced in order to eliminate the financial barriers that Indigenous learners face to access post-secondary education.

Download the Indigenous Education in Ontario Factsheet

The Impact of Government Underfunding on Students (2011)

 The substantial public investments that led to the expansion of universities and the creation of colleges in the 1960s were based on the belief that access to post-secondary education should be dictated by ability and desire, not financial means. Canada's public post-secondary education system, however, has become remarkably less public over the last three decades.

The factsheet, The Impact of Government Underfunding on Students, outlines the history of funding cuts to post-secondary education by the federal and Ontario governments over the past 25 years. The cutbacks have made Ontario the province with the lowest per-student funding in Canada, and subsequently, students in Ontario are faced with the highest tuition fees and worst student-faculty ratio in the country. Chronic underfunding and the burden on students to pay more and more for post-secondary education has had a particular effect on marginalized students, perpetuating existing inequalities and leaving many students without fair access to a college or university education.

Download The Impact of Government Underfunding on Students Factsheet