How can we move Ontario ahead when we leave our students behind?

Seventy percent of future jobs in Ontario will require a post-secondary education. Public investment in higher education helps ease youth unemployment during economic downturns, improves the quality of education, and gives our province the skilled workforce we need for a stronger and more creative economy. Unfortunately, years of chronic under-funding means Ontario’s universities don’t have the resources they need to ensure Ontario’s social vitality and economic success.

Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Reaching Higher Plan injected needed money into Ontario’s university system. The 2009 Ontario Budget also provided vital short-term financial relief for universities hit hard by the recession. But these investments have not kept pace with enrolment growth. And with tens of thousands of new students expected to enroll in Ontario universities, this under-funding will only get worse.

For Ontario’s students, under-funding means:

• Soaring tuition fees. A high-cost education will prevent low-income and marginalized Ontarians from accessing higher education, to the detriment of the entire province.
• Large class sizes and limited student engagement . If our students can’t get the education they need, they won’t be able to perform in the knowledge economy.
• Deteriorating classrooms, labs and libraries. The research and skills needed to keep Ontario ’s economy competitive depend upon quality infrastructure. Without the proper facilities, our universities can’t fulfill their vital economic role.

It’s time to do something about it.

As a citizen of Ontario, you can help convince the provincial government to make the investments our universities need. Please take two minutes right now to send a quick letter on this issue to Premier McGuinty and your local MPP. Just click here and follow the steps.

The time you take now could make a big difference to the quality of higher education in Ontario. Our Province’s success depends on it.