Funding for Calgary’s post-secondary institutions remains at 2024-25 levels, despite a student letter calling on the province to restore operational funding back to 2019 levels.

According to Budget 2025, the province will be investing almost $7.4 billion into post-secondary education with an operating budget of $6.6 billion. This is a five per cent increase from what was allocated in Budget 2024.

The province also said it will invest $78 million every year for the next three years to create more seats in apprenticeship classes across the province to promote skilled trades education.

Another $113 million will be allocated to scholarships and the Alberta Student Grant. Around $60 million of the total investment will be funded from the Alberta Heritage Scholarship Fund.

Around $4 million will be allocated to the First Nations College Grant which will be distributed equally across five colleges in rural and remote Indigenous communities.

This comes after the Government of Alberta projected a $5.2 billion deficit in Budget 2025, partially due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods and energy exports. The Associated Press reported that Trump plans to go forward with a 25 per cent tariff on most imports from Canada starting March 1, including a 10 per cent tariff on energy imports. The prospect of escalating tariffs has already taken a toll on the global economy due to fears of inflation.

“The decision wasn’t made to increase, neither was there one to cut it. That’s the kind of balance we’re looking at across the table currently,” Finance Minister Nate Horner told reporters at a news conference before Budget 2025 was introduced in the legislature on Thursday.

“I think that shows our support given the financial position we’re in.”

When asked if the province is considering restoring full or partial funding to 2019 levels, Horner said “a more optimistic forecast would help.”

In an emailed statement to LWC, a spokesperson for Mount Royal University said the school will continue to work with the Ministry of Advanced Education on budget specifics and how they will affect the university.

“Over the past number of years, MRU has continued to improve efficiency, reduce costs and develop other sources of revenue. MRU (and the Alberta post-secondary system generally) currently performs well with respect to cost and other metrics compared to other provinces,” the emailed statement read.

“Advanced education is key to Alberta’s economic future, and we look forward to working with the province on what opportunities this funding presents for MRU and our future students.”

The University of Calgary did not respond to LWC’s requests for comments in time for publication.

Student unions concerned

In an emailed statement to LWC, the University of Calgary Students’ Union said it is “troubled” by Budget 2025.

It comes after 25 student unions signed an open letter addressed to the Government of Alberta earlier this month, where they called on the province to reverse budget cuts made under former premier Jason Kenney’s government. The University of Calgary Students’ Union was one of the signatories of the letter.

While the province did re-affirm funding towards the Multidisciplinary Science Hub at the University of Calgary, no other funding promises have been made.

“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 in an emailed statement.

“Seeing [Thursday’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.”

Mateusz Salmassi, vice-president external of the University of Calgary’s Students Union, also raised concerns about Independent Academic Institutions (IAIs) receiving public funding.

“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,” he said in an emailed statement.

Tala Abu Hayyaneh, president of the Students’ Association of Mount Royal University, said the numbers projected in Budget 2025 do not reflect the reality faced by post-secondary institutions and its students.

More and more institutions are relying on public funding from the province, but the operating budget is still stagnant, she said.

“There are more players at the table. We are still sharing the same pool of money, but with operating funding staying flat, it is effectively a cut for us,” Hayyaneh told LWC in an interview.

“When funding stays flat, when inflation is going up, we are not meeting the needs of students. We are not able to repair university facilities … Students are now having to carry the burden of that in terms of rising tuition costs, rising student service fees and all of the things they have to deal with when there is a lack of government funding.”

Hayyanneh said she acknowledged that it may be difficult for the government to restore funding to 2019 levels but it feels like the province isn’t adequately looking at the gravity of the situation. Alberta’s population is growing and many people are coming to the province to pursue an education, she said.

“Are we going to be able to receive them? Are we going to have enough seats for them at universities? Are we going to have enough supports in terms of accommodations, accessibility services?” she said.

“We know that in the budget there was more money allocated towards supporting students’ learning services from [kindergarten to Grade 12], but are we able to do that for university students? Or are we gonna cut off these students at 18 and kind of tell them, ‘All right, you’re out of the house. You’re on your own now.'”

Hayyanneh also raised concerns about post-secondary funding in the next two years. According to Budget 2025, funding for post-secondary education will stay at $7.4 billion for 2026-27 and 2027-28.

“I am worried, and everyone should be worried not just for the students but for the future of Alberta. How is the government preparing to maybe carry some of the burdens that Albertans are sharing, especially students?” she said.

“If students start to see that post secondary is no longer an affordable option for them, that it is no longer a feasible option for their careers, for their lifestyle, even for their aspirations … If the government is not keeping an eye on adjusting funding to inflation and indexing things to the consumer price index, we are risking the future of Alberta.

“The future of Alberta is currently on the line, and the government is not responding.”