Presentation to the Select Standing Committee on Finance

The Okanagan College Students’ Union represents around 5000 students from Salmon Arm, Kelowna, and Penticton.

OCSU is presenting to the Select Standing Committee on Finance with one clear recommendation: restoring provincial funding to BC's public post-secondary institutions to no less than 75% of institutional operating budgets. We are focusing on this sizable gap in our provincial social net because a sufficiently funded post secondary sector benefits all British Columbians, and we believe it is the key to tackling many of the other social and economic struggles our peers and community members are voicing to you.

For context, back in 2000, the provincial government covered around 68% of institutional costs. Today, on average, that number has dropped to just 40%.

Institutions are forced to fill the gap primarily by cash-cowing students into paying premium, if loosely justified ancillary fees, and consistently increasing tuition fee costs—especially international tuition—which is volatile and unsustainable. Since Fall 2023, there’s been a 70% drop in international student enrolment at Okanagan College, leading to an anticipated 13.4 million dollar loss in revenue, and a projected 8.3 million dollar deficit in the 2025/26 fiscal year.

At our campuses, we are seeing firsthand the impacts of systemic underfunding. Significant cuts to specific programs are further undermining the economic growth and strength of our regions. In 2023, OC lost funding for its Registered Nursing UBC-O Bridge Program, which was a cornerstone of our newly built Health Sciences centre. This has increased pressure on the first two years of UBC-Os nursing program by intensifying competition for first-year entry, straining the development of future local healthcare workers, and weakening a pipeline critical to addressing our region’s healthcare staffing shortages.

When you invest in local education, you invest in local jobs, services, and positively impact the sustainability of essential sectors. On the other hand, when you cut programs, you set the precedent for outsourcing services that should be provided by homegrown professionals.

More recently, due to a lack of access and funding, OC has been forced to shift programs from in-person learning to online formats, often with little notice to students or faculty.

Multi-campus institutions like OC are pressured to centralize student support services and adjust in-person delivery to save costs. This disproportionately affects rural learners and employees, leaving an inadequate experience for students paying the same tuition across the valley. This means they are getting less services and support for the same cost as those able to fit the tightening parameters of available in-person learning.

This is not about resisting change or innovation, but about protecting access and equity in public education. The very purpose of having regional campuses is to provide quality, local, and accessible education in smaller communities like Penticton, but also for folks in surrounding towns like Peachland, Summerland, Okanagan Falls, and Oliver.

Of course, institutions, including OC, are making due with what they have, but it's at the cost of the very students they are serving. Students are expected to shoulder not only their textbooks, but the increasing operational costs. Given that OC has been providing high quality education throughout the Okanagan since the 1960s, certainly some buildings have needed heavy infrastructural investment in order to meet the modern demands of innovative programming in trades, technologies and the health sectors. Students cannot be expected to learn in outdated teaching environments and also be at the forefront of the community when they graduate. Proper government funding for post-secondary education and its necessary costs is how we tackle the larger issues across the province. Good, quality education leads to better economic outcomes.

OC is also a major economic driver in the region. Beyond producing skilled graduates, the institution employs around 1200 people across the valley, making it one of the largest employers in the Okanagan. Current budget cuts and the decline in international enrollment are deeply impacting year round job security and the economic strength of our communities.

An efficiently funded Post Secondary Education system creates positive waves in all sectors of our communities and economies. Our hope is that we have helped you folks connect some of those dots to the wider issues we are sure you are hearing about.

Thank you for your time, and for beginning the work of prioritizing the health of publicly funded colleges and universities. We all know that education is the cornerstone of economic and social development for society. By properly funding post-secondary institutions back to no less than 75% of their operating budgets, this will not only benefit the lives of all British Columbians but will also provide a brighter economic outcome for the province.

-Okanagan College Students’ Union