Reality Check: Liberals fail Ontario students with highest tuition in Canada

Today, NDP Training, Colleges and Universities critic Peggy Sattler said that Premier Kathleen Wynne needs a reality check as she continues her “invite-only” tour of Ontario universities.  

“The Premier’s 'invite-only' university tour ignores the fact that Liberal policies are making higher education unaffordable for too many students in Ontario,” said Sattler, MPP for London West. “The Liberal record on post-secondary education gets a failing grade.”

Here’s the real Liberal record on post-secondary education: 

FACT: According to Statistics Canada, undergraduate students in Ontario are paying the highest average tuition fees in Canada at more than $7,500 per year.

FACT: According to Statistics Canada, graduate students studying in Ontario are also paying the highest tuition fees in the country, at more than $8,700 per year.

FACT: Ontario’s tuition fees have been among the highest in the country under the Liberal watch and became the most expensive of any province in 2009.

FACT: Under the Liberals, the average Ontario university student needs to work twice as long as their parents did to afford one year of tuition.

FACT: The high cost of tuition under the Liberals means students and new grads are one of the fastest growing groups of food bank users in Ontario.

FACT: Despite Premier’ Wynne’s much-touted tuition grant, as many as two-thirds of Ontario students aren't eligible for it.

FACT: The Liberals are forcing talented international students to pay more, too. In 2014, international undergradtuition fees increased 6.9 percent in Ontario, the biggest increase in the entire country.