U of W finances in dire straits

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This article was published 19/03/2025 (229 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The University of Winnipeg is warning about a “dire financial situation” and hefty deficit — $4 million in the red is its low-end estimate for next year — due to chronic underfunding and a drop in international enrolment.

Internal documents obtained by the Free Press via a freedom of information request shed light on the cash-strapped campus’ pleas to the province to update how it funds post-secondary institutions.

Since the start of the school year, U of W has adopted a hiring freeze, limited discretionary spending and suspended its women’s soccer team, among other cost-saving measures.

“At some point, there is nothing left to cut other than programs and eventually, faculty — first, staff, who are part of our core mandate — and student supports, which are already bleak in comparison to (other campuses),” said Peter Miller, president of the faculty association.

Senior administration recently hired a consulting firm, against the backdrop of a new austerity agenda, to analyze its share of provincial grants in comparison to the University of Manitoba and Brandon University.

Higher Education Strategy Associates concluded U of W is “significantly disadvantaged” by the status quo model wherein post-secondary institutes receive funding based on their programs.

“There are enormous and frankly indefensible gaps between UW and BU in terms of spending power, which is directly attributable to the underfunding identified in this paper,” as per an excerpt of the Toronto-based firm’s Dec. 4 report.

Authors Alex Usher and Matthew Doyle linked funding levels to stark disparities in student-faculty ratios, instructional expenditures and allotments for student services and libraries.

Their 17-page review looked at “horizontal equity” between campuses, which they determined was best calculated with “weighted enrolment formulas,” such as the methods used in Ontario and Quebec that take both program type and enrolment into account.

Advanced Education Minister Renée Cable said she appreciated the report, but suggested it offers an “apples-to-oranges comparison” for that reason.

“We’ve always funded the universities and colleges by program and our No. 1 priority is to help rebuild the health-care system,” Cable said.

While acknowledging campuses are dealing with “colliding factors,” such as the federal cap on international students, she said the province is focused on scaling health-care training programs for physicians and other health-care professions.

University president Todd Mondor flagged the HESA report’s findings and related research in a Jan. 24 email to her office, saying he was hopeful the parties could engage in “meaningful conversation” and work together to address a history of underfunding.

Mondor shared charts showing U of W relies far more heavily on tuition revenue than its counterparts and receives far less funding when figures are broken down per capita.

Data from the Canadian Association of University Business Officers in 2022 shows 39 per cent of the downtown school’s operating revenue comes from tuition. That figure was 23 per cent at BU and 21 per cent at U of M.

The national database also indicates the inner-city university receives roughly half of what U of M does in provincial grant dollars per full-time student and only 60 per cent of BU’s share. The U of M is given $13,362 per student, Brandon University receives $12,354, while U of Winnipeg gets $7,260.

The 1967 order-in-council to establish U of W states financial support should be “in equitable proportion to student enrolment in comparable arts and science courses in other institutions of higher learning,” the president noted in his memo.

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Miller, who represents faculty members, instructors and librarians, said his university is unique in that it prioritizes small class sizes, liberal arts education and contributes to downtown.

The current funding approach reflects a persistent lack of political will to fund U of W fairly and suggests its operations are “worth less” than others, the associate professor of classics said.

“Canada needs an educated workforce, an educated citizenry, even more than ever before, perhaps,” he said.

U of W received a two per cent increase in operating funding totalling $1.5 million for the current school year. Administration has yet to receive its allotment for 2025-26.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.