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June/July 2007 News
Special Section
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Excellence Without a Federal MinistryA multitude of community colleges with high completion rates raises Canada’s standing 
REUTERS/J.P. Moczulski
Canadian Governor General Michaëlle Jean rings a “Liberty Bell” at York University in Toronto to commemorate the opening of a research institute on the global migrations of African peoples in March 2007. The original bell was mounted in South Buxton, Ontario, in the 1850s and was rung whenever an American slave reached freedom in Canada.
Higher education, generally described in Canada as post-secondary education, was not specifically mentioned in the original Canadian Constitution when it was adopted in 1867. Instead, the British North America Act assigns education exclusively to provincial governments, subject to a number of qualifications regarding religious schools. The fathers of the constitution were attempting to create a centralized federal structure, while still protecting the cultural and religious integrity of Quebec. What Canada got, through a combination of judicial interpretation, provincial government insistence, and cultural diversity, was one of the most decentralized federations in the world. The combination of a decentralized federation and the attribution of educational jurisdiction to provincial governments might have created a minimal federal role as each province developed a unique system of post-secondary education. But the fiscal power of the federal government, together with a conviction that higher education was vital to the future of the Canadian economy, has resulted in the federal government exercising considerable influence over higher education and paying nearly 40 per cent of the costs. The substantial entanglement of federal and provincial roles, however, is not accompanied by coordinating mechanisms where the two orders of government actually discuss policy. The fact that Canada has one of the highest higher-education participation rates in the world and that several universities can be viewed as world-class institutions is a tribute to the ability of institutions and diffuse governance structures to create a decentralized coordination. More Than 1.5 Million Students Each Year Approximately three-fifths of public expenditures on higher education are funded by the 10 provincial governments, the remainder by the federal government. Tuition fees account for a steadily increasing level of institutional revenues, now about 40 per cent for universities. Tuition fees vary widely by province. They range from C$1,668 in Quebec for in-province students to C$6,030 in Nova Scotia. The median is C$4,416. Total public and private expenditures per student in Canada were us$20,000 in 2004, placing Canada third only to Switzerland and the U.S., where spending per student was closer to us$25,000. The OECD average was us$11,300. In Canada, public universities are highly autonomous. Individual boards of governors and senates control the respective management and the academic programs of all universities, and provincial governments interfere very little in their decisions. Thus several provinces have instituted quality assurance bodies. All are concerned that student mobility is unduly hindered by the lack of intra-provincial systems for transferring credits for courses. Canada has been relatively slow in developing quality assurance and course credit transfer mechanisms. Ottawa and Provinces Argue, Then Agree Canada views research as one of the major keys to economic advancement, and believes that support of university-based research is a legitimate area of federal activity. And since research is strongly concentrated in universities (as much or more than in any other advanced country), this has meant a Two other major areas of federal support for higher education are student assistance and intergovernmental transfers. Federal student loan programs supplement provincial student support schemes in all provinces to the tune of approximately $2 billion per year. In addition, the federal government provides tax relief for interest payments on all student loans and savings incentive programs for higher education. Federal and provincial officials have worked out protocols and procedures to work together. Intergovernmental transfers for higher education are paid separately from other social transfers and unconditionally. However, in the federal budget of March 19, 2007, a 40 per cent increase was promised for the next fiscal year, dependent upon the federal government being satisfied that all the money is Working Without a Federal Minister In fact, the outcome has been one of effective informal coordination. To some degree, this coordination is done by the higher-education institutions themselves. Also to some degree, it reflects the ability of Canadian bureaucrats to plan together, sometimes despite their political masters. It is also reflective of the insistence of the Canadian polity that the Canadian federal system must, in the end, deliver results. |
Richard Van Loon served as president and chancellor of Carleton University in Ottawa from 1996 to 2005. He also served as associate
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