On Monday, January 8, CSI President Nelson Chukwuma presented five recommendations to the Minister of Finance, The Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, for the 2024 Ontario Budget. The objective of this pre-budget submission is rooted in the collective experiences of Conestoga’s student population and highlights the key areas where budgetary investments can make a transformative impact.
The recommendations focused on transforming the student experience through:
- Improving grant funding for colleges.
Provide a one-time increase of 10% in per-student funding applied in 2024-2025 to the value of the Weighted Grant Unit (WGU)/Weighted Funding Unit (WFU), with subsequent increases each year equal to the increase in the consumer price index or 2%, whichever is greater.
- Grants for low-income students.
Review the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) assessment processes and policies to increase grants for low-income students.
- Funding for student housing.
Create funding opportunities for non-profits, co-operatives, and post-secondary institutions to increase the supply of purpose-built student accommodations (PBSAs) to address the ongoing and increasing housing crisis.
- Addressing food insecurity
Make targeted investments and policy changes that reduce financial barriers for students to address the root cause of food insecurity: financial insecurity. This includes but is not limited to ensuring that social program disbursements (OSAP, ODSP, Ontario Works, etc.) reflect the current cost of living, that minimum wage is a livable wage, that institutions are not primarily reliant on tuition revenues, and that affordable housing is available for students
- Improving interregional transportation.
Invest in public transportation projects that improve municipal and regional interconnectivity in the Grand River Watershed and beyond with an integrated payment method such as Presto.
CSI is committed to collaborating with the Government of Ontario to implement these measures and collectively shape a brighter future for Conestoga’s students. To read the full pre-submission document, click here.
Do you want to contribute to this discussion?
CSI encourages you to submit your thoughts regarding these recommendations directly to the government. The voices of our student population will help increase the capacity of these 5 essential recommendations.
Follow this link to see how your voice can be heard: https://www.ontario.ca/page/2024-budget-consultations