University Tuition Fees Increase Again

Canadian full-time students in undergraduate programs faced the same increase in tuition fees (+3.6%) for the 2009/2010 academic year as they did in 2008/2009, which followed a 2.8% increase in 2007/2008. 

On average, full-time undergraduate students paid an average of $4,917 in tuition fees in 2009/2010, compared with $4,747 in 2008/2009, up from $4,558 a year earlier. In the last year, there has been an annual average increase of 4.4% over the tuition fee of $3,064 paid in 1998/1999. 

In comparison, between August 2008 and August 2009, inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined 0.8%. During the same 12-month period in the previous year, the CPI rose 3.5%.

In contrast, inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, rose at an annual average rate of 2.3% between 1998/1999 and 2007/2008.

Tuition fees increased in all but three provinces this fall. Fees remained unchanged in Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick, while they declined in Nova Scotia (-3.1%) for a second year in a row. 

Two provinces ended freezes on tuition fees with increases - Manitoba (+4.3%) and Saskatchewan (+3.4%). Elsewhere, tuition fee increases ranged from 2.0% in British Columbia to 5.0% in Ontario. Ontario's increase was the limit legislated by the Ontario government. 

On average, undergraduate students in Ontario also paid the highest fees in Canada at $5,951. Students in Nova Scotia had the second-highest average tuition fees at $5,696. 

Quebec undergrads continued to pay the lowest fees, averaging $2,272, followed by those in Newfoundland and Labrador at $2,619. 

Canadian graduate students face greater increase than undergrads. At the national level, graduate students faced larger tuition fee increases than undergraduate students.

Specialised Courses

Canadian undergraduates: Dentistry students pay highest average fees in Canada. As was the case in 2008/2009, undergraduate students in dentistry paid the highest fees on average ($13,988), nearly three times the average of all undergraduate disciplines, followed by students in medicine ($10,216).

Undergraduate students in veterinary medicine saw the largest increase (+15.6%), and ended up paying $5,110 in the current academic year, followed by architecture and related services programs with a 6.5% rise. Increases in other fields ranged from 1.9% (business, management and public administration) to 5.9% (law).

At the graduate level, the most expensive program was the executive master of business administration (MBA), with tuition of $30,653, and the regular MBA program at $20,564. However, students in the executive MBA program had the smallest increase of all graduate programs from 2008/2009 to 2009/2010 at 2.5%.

International students paying more

Nationally, the average increase for international students in undergraduate programs was 7.1%, and they had average fees of $15,674. This compares with an average of $14,487 in 2008/2009, when students in Ontario (+5.1%) and New Brunswick (+4.2%) had the largest increases. 

In 2008/2009 compared with a year earlier, students in Quebec (+3.9%) and Ontario and Saskatchewan (+3.2% each) faced the largest increases.

Additional compulsory fees on the rise

The bundle of services included in additional compulsory fees varies from one institution to the next and can change over time. Typically, they include fees for athletics, student health services, student association and other fees that apply to full-time Canadian students.

In 2008/2009, nationally the additional compulsory fees increased  3.3% from a year earlier. On average, Canadian undergraduate students paid $695 in additional compulsory fees in 2008/2009, up from $673 a year earlier.

In 2008/2009, additional compulsory fees for undergraduate students ranged from $827 in Nova Scotia to $423 in New Brunswick.

Alberta (+10.6%) posted the largest increase in additional compulsory fees for undergraduate students, while New Brunswick (+17.2%) saw the largest advance for graduate students.

Additional compulsory fees are often excluded from fee regulations and are normally determined in part by provincial departments, institutions and student organizations.

[Source: Statistics Canada]