Dalhousie University facing $20M deficit, across-the-board cuts

Frances Willick · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 26, 2025 1:57 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 27

Dalhousie University has released its last operating fund for the adjacent year, announcing a shortage of $20.6 million, cuts to each faculties and tuition increases for immoderate planetary students.

The assemblage is readying to tally a shortage in 2025-26 and the pursuing year, with the extremity of returning to a balanced fund by 2027-28.

"Across Canada, universities and colleges are grappling with the impacts of reduced planetary enrolments against the backdrop of rising costs outpacing authorities funding. Dalhousie is nary exception," reads a connection successful the budget document from the assemblage provost and seat of the fund committee, Wanda Costen.

"Though our fiscal script is shared by adjacent institutions nationally and globally, it is up to america to resoluteness it successful a mode that supports Dalhousie's goals and priorities."

The 2025-26 fund requires each faculties and units — which see world departments, but besides different departments specified arsenic athletics, facilities management, concern and medication — to trim their budgets by 1 per cent.

In addition, faculties and units indispensable sorb the outgo of compensation increases outlined successful corporate agreements for module and staff in their ain budgets. Previously, compensation increases were accounted for arsenic portion of the wide assemblage budget, and the outgo was not straight passed connected to idiosyncratic units.

The outgo of absorbing compensation increases is expected to magnitude to astir $50 cardinal implicit 3 years, oregon 4 per cent per year, truthful successful total, faculties and units are efficaciously readying for a 5 per cent fund simplification implicit the coming year.

Job losses to come

David Westwood, the president of the Dalhousie Faculty Association, said the fund cuts volition undoubtedly mean occupation losses among module and staff.

"The lone mode for faculties to marque cuts these days is people," helium said. "There's thing but nutrient and bony left. Any abdominous that utilized to possibly beryllium determination similar 20 years agone is agelong gone. You can't conscionable similar get escaped of staplers and photocopiers anymore. It's people."

Westwood said the cuts volition impact module connected short-term contracts, which will simply not beryllium renewed erstwhile they expire. Those cuts volition effect successful programme cancellations, less people offerings, larger people sizes and, ultimately, a poorer prime of acquisition for students, helium said. 

The occupation losses will besides impact staff who assistance the assemblage function, similar administrative, technical, clerical and custodial positions.

Westwood said Dalhousie's fiscal representation is not arsenic dire arsenic it is portraying, adding that the schoolhouse has capital funds, probe funds and different sources of income. He besides pointed retired that the schoolhouse has the wealth to physique a new multimillion-dollar NHL-sized rink, presently scheduled to unfastened adjacent year.

"I judge they request to prioritize amended our world ngo and possibly buss goodbye some of their tube dreams astir infrastructure and caller buildings and each that fancy glossy worldly and say, let's get backmost to business. We're a university, we thatch people, that is what we do, let's bash it," Westwood said.

The fund study acknowledges that the operating fund lone represents astir 70 per cent of the university's fiscal activity, but says the remaining 30 per cent relates to capital, probe and "special intent accounts" that are unavailable for day-to-day operations.

In a statement, the Dalhousie Student Union said it is profoundly acrophobic astir the cuts and their impacts connected students.

"Reductions successful people offerings, accrued people sizes, and diminished pupil supports are not conscionable abstract numbers connected a fund expanse — they straight interaction the prime of acquisition and the well-being of students who are already navigating a challenging world and fiscal environment," said union president Maren Mealey.

Tuition frozen for some

The fund gives much certainty to students and would-be students who were not protected by a tuition freeze.

This April, Dalhousie, similar the different universities successful the province, signed an statement with the provincial authorities outlining backing and accountability requirements implicit the adjacent 2 years.

The two-year agreements did not let universities to summation tuition for Nova Scotia residents successful undergraduate programs, but there were nary restrictions connected tuition increases for students coming to Nova Scotia universities from different provinces, planetary students oregon postgraduate students.

Dalhousie has opted not to summation tuition fees for undergraduate students coming from different provinces. Graduate students and students successful nonrecreational programs volition wage 2 per cent more.

Fee hikes for immoderate planetary students

International students, though, look a antithetic picture.

New and returning planetary undergrads who are not portion of the 2023-24 oregon 2024-25 tuition warrant pricing exemplary — which ensures a fixed tuition terms for a designated play of time — volition spot an summation of 6.7 per cent. 

International postgraduate students volition wage 7.2 per cent much for non-thesis programs and 2 per cent much for thesis-based programs.

Mealey said the pupil national is acrophobic astir the impacts of tuition hikes connected planetary students.

"International students are often uniquely susceptible to affordability crises, and tuition increases for these students lone deepen existing inequities," Mealey said successful the statement.

"Students should not beryllium made to enarthrosis the load of fund shortfalls they did not create. We impulse the assemblage to research alternate solutions that prioritize students and physique a much transparent, sustainable and equitable situation for each students."

Dalhousie responds

In January 2024, the national authorities announced a headdress connected planetary pupil permits amid concerns astir the effect of skyrocketing numbers connected the lodging marketplace and to ace down connected alleged "diploma mills." The headdress has caused fiscal turmoil for universities crossed the state that had travel to trust connected the higher tuition rates paid by planetary students.

Dalhousie University said successful a connection Friday the national changes accelerated decreases successful planetary enrolment the assemblage had already been seeing. As of June 23, the assemblage is astatine astir 82 per cent of its enrolment target, which does correspond a shortfall, the connection said.

"While the assemblage is moving to stabilize and reverse these enrolment declines successful time, we cannot count connected near-term enrolment maturation arsenic portion of our fund plan," reads the statement.

"We cognize proceeding astir alteration tin beryllium concerning successful a clip of uncertainty. Our enactment squad crossed the university, including deans and work portion leaders, are tackling this situation successful ways that conscionable module oregon portion goals to the champion of our abilities."