REGINA, Sask. — With students heading back to post-secondary classes this week, the two major parties were doing battle over the issue of tuition on Thursday.
“Put simply, tuition in Saskatchewan is too damn high,” said NDP MLA for Regina University Sally Housser at a media event outside the University of Regina.
She pointed to Statistics Canada reporting that undergraduate students in Saskatchewan pay the second-highest tuition fees in the country, according to last year’s numbers.
“Our undergrads pay roughly $2,200 more annually on tuition than the Canadian average. And things are only getting worse. As classes begin again this week, students can expect to see a three per cent increase in their tuition fees this school year. We consistently hear that students just simply cannot keep up with this financial squeeze anymore. Everything is getting less affordable, rent is going up, tuition is going up, and people are not able to save the money they need for tuition.”
NDP critic for Advanced Education Noor Burki also continued to call out youth unemployment.
“In July, youth unemployment rose to 12.4 per cent, with many students reporting their challenges in finding full-time or even part-time summer jobs. We continue to see Saskatchewan lose many to interprovincial migration, and historically our young people make up a big portion of the population that is leaving this province, which is heartbreaking. Young people will unfortunately keep leaving if they continue to be squeezed by the cost of living, increasingly high tuition and lack of opportunities.”
Burki also pointed to their party’s Your Future, Your Say consultations, with events planned for Moose Jaw on Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. at the Ballad & Bard in the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre, and on Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. at the Parlour Barber Shop in Yorkton.
Reporters also heard from Michael Stevenson, an economics student at the University of Regina. He said tuition at the university is “just too high.”
“I believe they've raised it by the max amount they could over the last few years and now we're paying some of the highest tuition in all of Canada and it simply makes us students feel like we're not a priority,” Stevenson said. “And I'm lucky enough that my parents are able to pay most of my tuition but I have friends who have to take out loans every single semester and other ones who simply can't afford to take five or four classes a year so they simply have to take more years to graduate which is just holding us back from what we could be as a province. And simply, students are also being attacked from inflation by every single direction. We have rent, we have food, we have gas and we have tuition on top of that. It makes us feel like we don't have anyone who's looking out for our best interest.”
Response from Minister Ken Cheveldayoff
In response, Advanced Education Minister Ken Cheveldayoff issued a statement in which he said the Government of Saskatchewan is “committed to maintaining affordable tuition costs for students. Saskatchewan tuition for domestic and international graduate students remains among the lowest in the country.”
Cheveldayoff said that while Saskatchewan’s public post-secondary education institutions are responsible for setting tuition and fees for students, “our new multi-year funding agreement protects student affordability. It limits annual tuition increases to a range of zero to three per cent.”
“As part of that agreement, post-secondary institutions will receive an additional $33.6 million in operating funding in 2026-27, with funding increases guaranteed for four years.”
Cheveldayoff also stated that the government is “further protecting student affordability by providing nearly $120 million in this year’s budget for student loans, grants, scholarships, tax credits and other supports. We also offer the Graduate Retention Program, which gives post-secondary graduates up to $24,000 in tax credits if they stay to live and work in Saskatchewan.”
