An organization that represents over 140,000 university students across Ontario on Friday recommended an ambitious agenda of long-term changes that included raising the OSAP (Ontario Student Assistance Plan) maximum to $175 per week, formal instruction in teaching methods and practices to Phd students at a cost of $1 million and regulating tuition fee increases at the rate of inflation.

Dan Moulton, Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) president, said during the provincial government’s pre-budget consultations that “funding is the most important issue facing the post secondary education today.” He said OUSA’s new report, Higher Education: The Engine of Economic Recovery, “presents pragmatic solutions while recognizing the government’s tenuous fiscal solution.”

“Over the past five years, the Ontario government’s Reaching Higher Plan has invested $6.2 billion into the sector, yet much is left to do,” said the report’s authours. “As the government designs a new plan, it is crucial that steps are taken to improve the quality and accessibility of higher education.” 

John Bonnar

John Bonnar is an independent journalist producing print, photo, video and audio stories about social justice issues in and around Toronto.