Question Period Note: Post-secondary institutions financial situation

On November 21, 2023, the federal government presented its 2023 Fall Economic Statement. The statement proposes to amend federal insolvency laws to reduce the risk of adverse consequences in the event of institutional restructuring at post-secondary institutions, such as program reductions or being subject to lawsuits under these laws.

• Access to quality post-secondary education in the minority language is essential to ensure the vitality of communities, improve employment prospects, address labour shortages, and shape a knowledge-based economy.
• The measure to protect the public interest in cases of insolvency of public post-secondary institutions in our 2023 Fall Economic Statement will help us ensure access to quality post-secondary education in the minority language.
• The Government of Canada will continue to work with provinces and territories to support post-secondary institutions in official language minority communities, in order to train the bilingual, skilled workforce of tomorrow.

• On November 21, 2023, the federal government presented its 2023 Fall Economic Statement. The statement proposes amendments to federal insolvency legislation (i.e., the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act) to reduce the risk of adverse consequences in the event of institutional restructuring at post-secondary institutions, such as program reductions or being subject to proceedings under these laws.
o Laurentian University used the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act to carry out a restructuring that included the elimination of 69 programs, many of them in French, and the loss of 200 jobs.
• Action Plan 2023-2028 provides up to $128 million over 4 years starting in 2024-2025 to support post-secondary education in the minority language, in addition to the $30.4 million announced in Budget 2021 for the 2023-2024 period. Action Plan 2023-2028 also provides $8.5 million over five years to support the creation and dissemination of scientific knowledge in French.
• The modernized Official Languages Act aims to strengthen opportunities for English- and French-speaking minorities to access quality formal, non-formal or informal, learning opportunities in their own language throughout their lives, from early childhood through to post-secondary education.
• Education is an area of provincial and territorial jurisdiction. Provincial and territorial governments are responsible for establishing plans, determining the objectives and priorities, and defining contents for their programs in education. The federal government supports post-secondary education in the minority language through bilateral agreements and a Protocol for Agreements for Minority-Language Education and Second-Language Instruction. Negotiations to renew the Protocol are scheduled for fall 2023 with the provincial and territorial governments through the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC).
• In 2022-2023, Canadian Heritage investments in the post-secondary sector totaled $171.2 million, including $88.6 million in bilateral agreements with provinces and territories, $60.1 million in complementary funds (from which benefits the Université de l'Ontario français), $8.7 million in teacher recruitment and retention, and $13.8 million in infrastructure support. These funds come from de following: Protocol Base Fund ($235.5 million per year for the entire continuum); Budget 2021 intergovernmental funds ($121.3 million for post-secondary education) and non- governmental funds (annual amount of $2,04 millions); Complementary education funds ($11.2 million); Teacher Recruitment and Retention Fund ($17 million, including enhancements of $3.8 million from Budget 2021 until March 2024, and extended until 2028 with Action Plan 2023-2028).
• On February 8, 2023, the governments of Canada and Ontario announced that they will provide $20.4 million and $14.3 million respectively to the University of Ottawa to fund projects in support of French-language post-secondary education.
• On October 14, 2022, an announcement of $8 million over three years from the governments of Canada ($5.1M) and Ontario ($2.9M) to develop new bachelor's degrees. The project is funded through the Canada-Ontario Agreement on Minority Language Education and Second Official Language Instruction, which aims to meet the needs expressed by the province and the institutions concerned.
• In the summer of 2022, many announcements of new investments for post-secondary institutions serving Francophone minority communities were made, among others (in $ millions):
o In April, 1.9 in funding for the University of Sudbury to prepare its organizational assessment application and develop a business plan.
o In June, approximately 27.8 in support to the Université de Moncton for various projects, including student scholarships and 10.3 in funding for Campus Saint-Jean to hire more faculty and staff, increase programming and courses offered in French, and reactivate its French-language research Centre.
o In July, an announcement of almost $4 million in funding for the Collège nordique francophone in the Northwest Territories to prepare a plan to officially become a post-secondary institution in the fall of 2024.
o An amount of 7.1 in funding in collaboration with the Government of Saskatchewan to enable the University of Regina and Collège Mathieu to build, renovate, and expand education facilities as well as program offering.
o In August 2022, funding of 1.2 million over two years was announced for Université Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia to modernize the communication system with students and faculty.

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