Commission on the Reform of Ontario's Public Services

Simply maintaining the status quo requires annual cost increases of three to five per cent at
PSE institutions, so greater efficiency is clearly needed. The current system is unsustainable
from both a financial and a quality perspective.
The <strong>Commission</strong> recommends the following:
� Contain government funding and institutional expenses;
� Use differentiation to improve PSE quality and achieve financial sustainability;
� Encourage and reward quality;
� Revise research funding structures;
� Maintain the current overall cap on tuition-fee increases, but simplify the framework;
� Re-evaluate student financial assistance; and
� Generate cost efficiencies by, for example, integrating administrative and
back-office functions.
Contain Government Funding and Institutional Expenses: We recommend that
government funding be constrained to increases of 1.5 per cent per year to 2017–18.
This will not keep pace with projected enrolment growth of 1.7 per cent, nor with the
general rate of inflation, never mind the institutions’ historical internal rates of inflation,
so Ontario’s PSE institutions will need to find efficiencies to preserve, if not enhance,
quality. The government should work with the institutions to align bargained compensation
increases with more recent settlement trends in the BPS.
Increase Differentiation through Establishing Mandate Agreements: Ontario’s public
university and college system was largely established by the late 1960s. Since then, the
colleges’ mandate has evolved to include some degree-granting powers, blurring the original
rationale for the college system. The government should, by 2012–13, establish mandate
agreements with universities and colleges that provide more differentiation and minimize
duplication; these should be implemented beginning in 2013–14. By minimizing duplication of
programs, differentiation can reduce inefficiencies and realize cost savings. The government
should seek advice from either a blue-ribbon panel or the Higher Education Quality Council
of Ontario to help choose the highest-quality programs for expansion.
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