HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s 10 universities have signed new two-year funding agreements with the provincial government that include an undergraduate tuition freeze and an increase in operating grants.
Announced Friday, the deals provide universities with a two per cent increase in their operating grants in each of the next two years, although a portion will be held back until universities hit specific performance targets.
The total operational funding increase to the 10 universities is $7.7 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year and $7.8 million for 2026-27. The funding agreements replace one-year deals with universities that expired on March 31.
In a news release, Advanced Education Minister Brendan Maguire said the intent is to get universities “to thrive.”
“Through these longer-term agreements, we are providing more financial predictability for universities to help ensure that they are financially sustainable now and in the future,” Maguire said.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the department said the tuition freeze applies to Nova Scotia undergraduate students only, not to students from other provinces, or to graduate or international students.
The freeze will provide some relief for students who faced the highest average undergraduate tuition rate in the country at $9,762 in 2024-24, according to Statistics Canada.
Under the deals, schools with health-related programs will have to hit an average enrolment rate in those programs of at least 97 per cent to get their full funding allotments. Funding is also contingent on universities making housing available for at least 15 per cent of their student bodies, and ensuring that the on-campus housing vacancy rate is no higher than five per cent.
The Nova Scotia university student bursary program, which reduces tuition by $1,238 for students from the province with a full course load, will continue under the agreements. Nova Scotia students will also get preferred admission in undergraduate health and bachelor of education programs as of Jan. 1, 2026.
The province will require schools to increase work-learning opportunities to give students job-ready skills. As well, universities will need to review their programs to ensure they meet educational standards, are economically viable, and respond to labour market needs. The province will also put in place new financial indicators to assess a university’s financial health, and will review the universities' finances every year for five years.
The agreements follow the recent passage of a law that gives the government more oversight over universities and allows it to tie funding to economic and social priorities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2025.
Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press
