Budget 2025 undercuts public post-secondary education in Alberta
CALGARY – The Students’ Union, University of Calgary (SU) is deeply troubled by yesterday’s provincial budget. Not just for the lack of funding that post-secondary continues to receive, but for the troubling messages about the direction of advanced education in Alberta.
“Nearly every student association in the province came together earlier this month to sound the alarm that post-secondary in Alberta is in danger,” said SU President Ermia Rezaei-Afsah. “Seeing today’s budget has only re-affirmed just how necessary that open letter was, because this continues to be a grim reality with little hope on the horizon.”
The University of Calgary is for all intents and purposes left out of the 2025 budget, with no commitments beyond the re-affirming of funding towards the Multidisciplinary Science Hub which had previously been announced. Even more troubling is that the post-secondary operating budget is projected to remain stagnant throughout the rest of this current administration, despite the glaring needs for additional funding.
Perhaps the most worrying aspect of this budget is that not all post-secondary funding remained stagnant. Alberta’s Independent Academic Institutions (IAIs) are among the only sectors to see increased investment.
“Alberta is the only province with these IAIs, which blurs the line between giving public funds for private institutions. It hasn’t even been two years since the Ministry of Advanced Education said that MaKami College, an IAI that was only recently granted non-profit status, would not receive public funding, yet here we are,” said SU VP External Mateusz Salmassi.”
“Between this and the introduction of private post-secondary language in Bill 38, public post-secondary looks like it has a giant ‘for sale’ sign on it. We have already seen how that is going with healthcare.”
Finance Minister Nate Horner was quoted in other publications saying “That decision wasn’t made to increase it, neither was the one to cut it. That’s the kind of balance we’re looking at across the table.” With a near-$1 billion in deferred maintenance at the U of C, there is a growing sense of anger among students and community members over this alleged balance.
“The Finance Minister talks about how they need a more optimistic forecast to help restore funding to post-secondary. Yet, when during last year’s budget the forecast was quite optimistic, nothing meaningful was on the table for post-secondary, beyond more loans that students would have to pay back. At what point do we admit this is being done intentionally?” asked Rezaei-Afsah.
The SU will continue to advocate for the needs and issues of the students not just of U of C, but for all Albertan students. With 77% of post-secondary students already struggling to afford the basics in Alberta – combined with Alberta dropping sharply in the rankings in most educated provinces since 2019 – the message to the Government of Alberta is a simple one: you can’t keep cutting class.
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Media Inquiries may be directed to:
Nathan Ross
Manager, Communications & Government Relations
nathan.ross@ucalgary.ca // 403-835-1836