The people of Sudbury and the North urgently need our help.

On April 12, it was announced that more than 60 programs were cut and 100 professors terminated at Laurentian University.

University administrators had said the money runs out April 30 and are forcing through deep cuts ahead of the deadline. They are making it look like there is no alternative to the cuts.

At this critical time, we must support Laurentian students, staff, and faculty and call on the government to Fund Laurentian U now!

How did we get here?

Funding per student in Ontario has been on the decline since 2008. Colleges and universities in Ontario receive the lowest per-student funding of any province in Canada. The funding crisis has been years in the making and is the fault of governments of all political stripes.

The 10 per cent tuition fee reduction in 2019-20 followed by the tuition freeze in 2020-21 made things very challenging for colleges and universities. Meanwhile, the single largest funding cut to student financial assistance in OSAP’s history in 2019-20, made education less accessible and more expensive for many students.

What’s at risk?

Our colleges and universities are vital to the social and economic health of our communities, particularly in Northern and rural Ontario.

Colleges and universities bring:

• Jobs
• Research money
• Crucial support for key sectors such as the resources sector in Northern Ontario
• Updated technology and facilities that help make local and regional economies thrive.

All of these things are now in peril in Sudbury and across the North if the government continues to stand by and do nothing for Laurentian.

The ability for students to study closer to home, Laurentian University’s unique bilingual and tricultural mandate of English, French and Indigenous programming, and hundreds of direct and indirect jobs in Greater Sudbury are all at risk.

Laurentian respects and promotes Francophone and Indigenous cultures through the programs it offers. It is a uniquely progressive school that demonstrates a commitment toward reconciliation by offering Indigenous education and requiring B.A. students to take courses with Indigenous content. Francophone and Indigenous students would be severely underserved if these programs are taken away. As would our English-speaking students who also deserve access to education where they live, without having to relocate for it.

Education is a fundamental human right that should be accessible to everyone.

Now that Laurentian’s programs are being stripped down because of underfunding, students will be forced to leave the North and go elsewhere for their education. And that would only be an option for people who can afford it.

What happens to everyone else?

Why we need to save Laurentian U

Getting an education at Laurentian opens possibilities for people in the North. It improves their lives, their careers, and quality of life. And it makes our Northern communities stronger because of the jobs and networks of opportunity that creates. If these jobs aren’t available, what happens to the families who depend on them? It forces them to leave the North as well.

The government must provide long-term sustainable funding for Laurentian and more funding overall to public colleges and universities.

A crisis on campus is a crisis in our community.

It’s time that we treated education as a right, not a business. Postsecondary education is a benefit for our students, local employers and the regional economy.  When students study in the North, they stay in the North.

Let’s get it done. Fund Laurentian University Now.