Ontario colleges warn funding gap threatens workforce training, urging action in 2026 budget

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TORONTO, Jan. 14, 2026 /CNW/ - Colleges Ontario is urging the province to stabilize and modernize college funding in the 2026 budget, warning that failure to close the structural funding gap will reduce access for students and workers, weaken training in high-demand sectors and limit economic growth across Ontario communities.

The association is calling for a comprehensive package of investments to address the sector's structural deficit, expand priority workforce training and protect access to regional workforce needs in small, northern, rural and French-language communities. Its 2026 pre-budget submission seeks just over $1.5 billion in provincial investments, including:

• $1.1 billion to close the college operating funding gap through increased operating grants and updated tuition policy;
• $200 million to expand high-priority programs in skilled trades, health care, technology and advanced manufacturing, creating up to 20,000 new training opportunities;
• $200 million annually to maintain regional access for small, northern, rural and French-language colleges and campuses, indexed to inflation; and
• $100 million over three years to support sector-wide collaboration, shared services, cybersecurity and system modernization.

Ontario's public colleges face a growing structural funding gap driven by a broken funding model, steep federal cuts to international enrolment and a prolonged domestic tuition freeze. Operating grants remain about $7,700 per student below the national average, while domestic tuition sits roughly $1,100 lower than in other provinces. Federal immigration policy changes are expected to reduce international enrolment by more than 70 per cent from 2023–24 levels, removing up to $4.2 billion in revenue by 2027–28. Further reductions are expected in 2028/29 and beyond.

Colleges Ontario estimates the sector could face a deficit of up to $1.5 billion by 2027–28, driven by a structural funding gap exceeding $5,200 per student per year. Colleges have already reduced costs by $1.4 billion annualized, suspended more than 600 programs and eliminated over 8,000 positions. The association warns further cuts will shrink access for domestic students - particularly in smaller and rural communities - and worsen labour shortages regionally and across Ontario.

"Ontario's economic and workforce needs depend on colleges," said Maureen Adamson, president and CEO of Colleges Ontario. "Colleges supply more than half the workers in sectors facing the most acute shortages that directly affect our local and provincial economies. Without sustainable, predictable funding, training capacity will continue to shrink just as demand is growing and workers leave the workforce."

Ontario will need nearly one million additional college graduates by 2035 to meet current known labour-market demand in skilled trades, health care, energy, mining and advanced manufacturing.

About Colleges Ontario

Colleges Ontario is the advocacy organization representing the province's 24 public colleges. The organization advances policies and awareness campaigns to ensure Ontario produces the highly skilled workforce that is essential to the province's prosperity. For more information, visit CollegesOntario.org.

SOURCE Colleges Ontario

Media contact: Amy Dickson, Senior lead, communications, Colleges Ontario, 647-258-7687, [email protected]