Budget 2025 jeopardizes post-secondary education across BC, students say

Students in BC say the 2025 provincial budget fails to represent students and institutions, and they’re calling on the province to make changes. 

According to a release, post-secondary campuses across BC are in dire financial crisis and some just can’t afford to continue going down a path of financial instability any longer. 

“BC’s post-secondary institutions are facing severe financial deficits, leading to widespread staff and faculty layoffs over the past year,” says the BC Federation of Students. “Vital services, programs and course offerings are also being slashed as institutions project further financial struggles.  

“The situation has been exacerbated by a sharp decline in international student enrollment following the federal government’s cap on international study permits introduced in the beginning of March last year.” 

Chairperson of the BC Federation of Students Jessie Niikoi says institutions rely on tuition from international students to help balance the budget to make up for lack of public funding.  

“The provincial government encouraged and enabled international student recruitment as a means for institutions to balance their books to make up for lack of funding, despite advocates warning of the precarity of relying on student fees and enrolment as a main source of funding,” Niikoi says.  

The federation says although the government has made no direct cuts to spending, the current levels of funding in education for post-secondary students are inadequate, and the contingency doesn’t address the problem. 

Niikoi says underfunding is detrimental to institutions and the communities that rely on them.  

“College and universities are economic anchors in communities across the province, they provide education and employment for those who live in the surrounding area,” Niikoi says. “Without urgent investment, the government is putting students’ futures and the province’s economy at risk.” 

The BC Federation of Students represents over 170,000 students at 14 universities, colleges, and institutes in every region across BC.  

–Files by Justin Baumgardner, My Cowichan Valley Now