NEWS RELEASE
May 30, 2025
OUSA Concerned Over Post-Secondary Changes in Bill 33
TORONTO - Yesterday, the province tabled Bill 33, Supporting Children and Students Act, which would establish regulations on the types of fees that students pay and on admissions criteria. If passed, this legislation would allow the provincial government to dictate which ancillary fees can and cannot be charged to students. It would also make decisions around program admissions based on student merit alone.
In light of economic uncertainty, the Government of Ontario hopes to protect students through this period by increasing financial transparency. However, this move would have the opposite effect and underfund the key supports that actually protect students and enable their academic success. In 2019, the Student Choice Initiative served a similar purpose to the post-secondary elements in Bill 33, where provincial courts already deemed these measures to be unconstitutional. Programs like food banks, campus safety resources, peer support, mental health services, employment opportunities, and recreational activities, among several others, are funded by ancillary fees and ensure students have the resources they need to succeed in their education. OUSA believes that students should be the primary decision-makers over the ancillary fees they pay, and government oversight of this undermines the democratic process that should remain in the hands of students.
“Ancillary fees allow post-secondary institutions and student unions to offer essential services integral to students’ well-being, because we deserve a robust educational experience that supports our success both on- and off-campus,” said Sayak Sneddon-Ghosal, President of OUSA. “When the choice to deem these fees as non-essential is taken away from students, vital aspects of the student experience are lost, making post-secondary education increasingly inaccessible.”
Support services on campus are integral to maintaining student well-being throughout their time at post-secondary and greater oversight to label these fees non-essential would negatively impact those who are already struggling to access appropriate supports on their campuses. For example, 64.5% of students reported experiencing mental health issues and among those who attempted to access services, about 56% had to wait between two and eight or more weeks for their initial appointments. During the Student Choice Initiative, several student groups faced opt-outs and reductions in funding that led to decreased service capacity and staffing cuts. Without promises to provide non-ancillary fee funding to further support these essential services, the shortfalls of these systems will only be exacerbated, as already demonstrated through the Student Choice Initiative.
Furthermore, this Bill would mandate institutions to assess student applications based on merit as well as implement government regulations that set the criteria and process for application assessments. OUSA is worried about how this move will decrease pathways for underrepresented students. Many institutions across Ontario have made efforts to lower barriers to access for students with disabilities, low-income, first-generation, Indigenous, and racialized students. When students are given equitable access to education, post-secondary education becomes a vehicle for improving socio-economic mobility post-graduation. For example, Indigenous adults have lower employment rates than non-Indigenous adults, at 61.2% and 74.1%, respectively. However, that gap closes with the attainment of a bachelor's degree or higher, with Indigenous adults achieving an 82.6% employment rate and 82.5% for non-Indigenous adults. Ontario boasts some of the highest post-secondary education attainment rates nationally due to efforts that close the gaps for diverse students. Eliminating these initiatives has the potential to harm underrepresented students and will have lasting implications for Ontario’s economy.
The measures announced yesterday raise serious concerns for students across the province. Increased regulations over classifying fees and merit-based admissions will weaken the quality and accessibility of Ontario’s post-secondary system. Protecting Ontario means protecting our students in ways that safeguard the supports, services, and pathways in higher education. OUSA is urging the province to refrain from enacting these changes to post-secondary education, and is hopeful for productive conversations with students to ensure the system works in their best interests.
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About: OUSA represents the interests of 160,000 professional and undergraduate, full-time and part-time university students at nine student associations across Ontario. Our vision is for an accessible, affordable, accountable, high quality, and equitable post-secondary education in Ontario.
Contact:
Tiffany Li Wu
Manager of Operations and Communications
Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance
416-341-9948 | [email protected]