BC Greens announce plan to freeze tuition for post-secondary institutions

The BC Green Party have announced a plan that would see tuition for post-secondary institutions frozen to reduce costs for students. 

On Wednesday, October 21st, the BC Greens candidate for Oak Bay-Gordon Head Andrew Appleton, revealed the party’s policy that proposes a domestic tuition freeze for post-secondary and a new public funding model.

The proposed policy would see a tuition freeze at all 25 public post-secondary institutions, which includes UVic, Royal Roads and Camosun on Vancouver Island. 

“For too long, our post-secondary institutions have relied on squeezing international and domestic students like a cash cow to fill their funding gaps because the government hasn’t taken its responsibility to fund education seriously,” said Appleton. 

The BC Greens say that until 2024, international tuition accounted for about 18% of revenue across the public system, and up to 40% at some institutions. 

According to the BC Greens, federal changes to study permits are projected to reduce tuition revenue by roughly $300 million annually, which could contribute to hiring freezes, layoffs and program cuts. 

“Every time tuition goes up, another young person decides college or university isn’t for them. Not because they aren’t capable, but because they can’t afford it,” Appleton continued. 

“When we price people out of post-secondary, we all lose: the nurse who never trains, the researcher who never makes the breakthrough, the tradesperson who never finishes their apprenticeship.”

He added that post-secondary education isn’t a private luxury, rather it is how a society builds its future. 

If elected, the BC Greens have promised to freeze domestic tuition and institutionally charged mandatory fees at public post-secondary institutions, while capping annual international tuition and mandatory-fee increases at inflation.

Additionally, the party says they would review and replace BC’s current post-secondary funding model, with new provincial funding on the table. 

This endeavour would include reviewing the roles and mandates of all 25 public institutions, how funding is distributed, regional access, research and teaching responsibilities, trades and technical education, transfers between institutions and the needs of communities around the province.

Lastly, the BC Greens want to expand non-market student housing on publicly owned campus land, with provincial capital funding to build more long-term below-market student homes which would include family-sized units for students with children. 

Other parties’ post-secondary platforms

As of this publication, the BC NDP have no commitments to lowering or freezing tuition for post-secondary students in their official platform; however, there is currently a 2% cap annually in place.

In an interview with the Globe and Mail, BC NDP Leader David Eby stated he would keep this tuition cap in place if re-elected.

CentreBC has plans to keep the current tuition cap at 2% per year if elected. 

They also announced a commitment to create a $125 million per year ‘Post-Secondary Stabilization and Skills Fund,’ with conditions. The conditions and benefits of this proposed fund were not elaborated on. 

The Conservative Party of BC does not include any mention of commitments to post-secondary students regarding tuition costs in their platform. 

OneBC has also made no commitments surrounding tuition costs.