Post-Secondary Is in Crisis. A New Report Proposes a Fix Post-Secondary Is in Crisis. A New Report Proposes a Fix How did we get here? Investing in human infrastructure

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The province should cover 75 per cent of operations funding for colleges and universities, BC Policy Solutions says.
Katie Hyslop
9 Jun 2026
9 Jun 2026The Tyee
Katie Hyslop is a reporter for The Tyee. Follow them on Bluesky @kehyslop.bsky.social or send story tips to khyslop[at]thetyee.ca.
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The province should cover 75 per cent of operations funding for colleges and universities, BC Policy Solutions says. … Article written by Katie Hyslop.
Four years after the province announced a review of the public post-secondary funding formula, the Vancouver Community College Faculty Association got tired of waiting.
Last fall they commissioned BC Policy Solutions to write their own report, with a focus they did not trust the province's long-awaited review would take: reinvesting into public colleges and universities. The review comes as post-secondary schools across Canada are struggling financially after dramatic federal government cuts to the number of international students they can accept.
With 19 out of 25 B.C. institutions reporting a collective $300-million annual budget shortfall, the VCC Faculty Association report argues the B.C. government should treat public post-secondary education as public infrastructure by funding at least 75 per cent of their annual operating costs.
At the same time, B.C. should maintain the two per cent cap on increases to domestic tuition, while introducing a similar cap for international student tuition increases. The report also calls on the province to work with Indigenous leaders and communities towards designing a decolonized post-secondary education system.
"There's been no vision or master plan for post-secondary in B.C.," said Frank Cosco, president of the Vancouver Community College Faculty Association.
Nor has there been significant investment in the schools, Cosco added, especially at the college level, including Vancouver Community College, since the Ujjal Dosanjh-led NDP government in 2000 to 2001.
"Seventy-five per cent is arbitrary. Please, give us something," he said. "There should be a royal commission, like the McDonald [report] in the late '60s, early '70s that set up the system in B.C."
Since the federal government announced a reduction and cap on international student visas in early 2024, the province's public institutions have cut 180 programs and laid off 1,300 faculty and "countless support staff," the report says. Forty-five student services have also ceased operations.
While research universities like the University of British Columbia — with its $6.9-billion endowment — have significant savings to rely on, it's the teaching universities and community colleges that have been hardest hit.
Langara College has had the most layoffs, with a loss of over 200 faculty members, and the suspension or cancellation of three programs.
Other colleges and teaching universities have lost fewer staff members but cut or suspended more programs: 35 programs at Capilano University, 32 at Vancouver Island University and 26 at North Island College.
Véronique Sioufi, author of the report and BC Policy Solutions' racial equity researcher and policy analyst, estimates it would cost the province about half a billion dollars annually to stabilize B.C.'s public post-secondary institutions. But she argues it would be money wisely spent.
"It would be a boost to the economy at many local levels, particularly for rural communities" with public post-secondary institutions, Sioufi said, adding that increasing progressive taxation levels would cover the costs.
"I spoke to almost 28 people, not counting all of the literature that I looked at. And there's not a lot of conflict here. I would say there's quite a bit of consensus."
When public B.C. student and faculty associations talk about funding issues in B.C....