The Impact of COVID-19 on Canada’s Higher Education Sector
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Canada’s higher education represents $52 billion, 2.6% of the Canadian economy in 2020. The sector comprises 96 universities and more than 200 community colleges, including over 50 Indigenous institutions. There were an estimated 2.1 million post-secondary students in 2017-18, of which 197,000 were international university students and 100,00 international college students.
The pandemic brought on key issues for the higher education sector to consider, including
- A potential reduction in public funding and pressure of budgets
- Organizational restructuring to respond to changing student needs
- Potential reduction of fee income from international students
- Students taking control of their own learning yet losing benefits of campus-based education
- Possible decreases in federal R&D support as austerity measures kick in
- An increase in the federal need for R&D to meet “national” priorities
Global Advantage’s briefing deck “The Impact of COVID-19 on Canada’s Higher Education Sector” provides background on the sector, issues affecting the sector, short- and long-term impacts and responses, and scenario planning with steps to long-term recovery.
