November 25,2025
RED FM News Desk
The British Columbia government has launched an independent review of funding sustainability in the public post-secondary system, as universities grapple with layoffs and rising operating costs amid a drop in international student enrolment following the federal cap on international student visas introduced in 2024.
Jessie Sunner, B.C.’s minister of post-secondary education, says the federal limit on study permits, shrinking domestic enrolment, and global economic pressures are creating financial strain and triggering layoffs across post-secondary institutions. The province has appointed Don Avison, a former B.C. deputy education minister, to lead the review, with a final report and recommendations due by March 15.
But student and faculty groups have raised concerns — particularly about the province’s plan to complete the review in under four months and without offering additional funding. Sunner said the government currently has no plans to provide new financial support for struggling institutions. Since 2016, she noted, B.C. has increased operating grants to universities by $1.2 billion.
“There has been significant investment in this sector,” she said. “Given our current economic situation — in B.C. and across the country — we are not in a position to provide additional funding.”
A 2022 review of the post-secondary funding model did not result in a publicly released final report.
At a rally outside the legislature, Solomon Yi-Kieran, vice-president of external affairs for the University of British Columbia’s student society, said four months — much of it overlapping with the government’s winter break — is insufficient for meaningful consultation or analysis. He added that the effects of the funding crisis are already being felt across B.C. campuses: contract faculty experienced major layoffs last year, and many tenured faculty and staff are now worried about their jobs heading into the next semester.
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