Summary

Ontario Tech is committed to advancing its strategic priorities in combination with financially responsible budgeting practices. In these challenging financial times, our focus is clear: we must prioritize enrolment growth, explore alternative revenue streams and find cost efficiencies. However, reliance on enrolment growth alone adds a layer of volatility to the planning process as even a minor 3 per cent deviation below the enrolment target could result in more than $1 million in lost revenues. As such, we must be resolute in our efforts to grow our enrolments.

Over the next several months we will know more about the Blue-Ribbon Panel recommendations and the response from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, as well as have a better understanding of the impact of ongoing international policy decisions on the higher education sector and our university. However, we cannot wait for decisions (or indecision) on behalf of the government to dictate our future. We are not going to sit back and wait for the unknown to happen.

We will continue to provide information so that our campus community has a deeper understanding of the issues and factors that inform our necessary, but difficult decisions within our current fiscally constrained environment. We welcome your feedback through participation in the budget information session or by emailing the Budget Working Group at budget@ontariotechu.ca.