Thank you, Chair.
I appreciate being given the opportunity, on behalf of McMaster University, to present today and to offer the broader institutional perspective of the university.
I'm very pleased to be joined by some of my faculty colleagues here today and especially by a grad student, whom you heard in the last panel, Chantel Millar. They have all brought their unique and individual perspectives to the discussion.
Graduate student funding is a challenge for McMaster and its students, along with universities across the higher educational sector. At the outset I'd like to underscore that McMaster shares the views of the organizations that have presented to you already, particularly the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies, whose president made important points about additional funding being needed for federal research granting agencies and for increases to graduate student and post-doctoral scholarships.
I'd especially like to underscore the importance of the government's advisory panel on the federal research support system and how disappointing it is that its key recommendations have not been acted on to date. We remain hopeful.
In terms of how the current environment is impacting McMaster and how we as an institution are managing these challenges, the response is multi-layered, and I will provide a brief introduction and welcome further questions the committee may have.
In February of this year, McMaster struck a task force specific to graduate funding, which is presently hosting campus-wide consultations on the impact of the current funding environment and ways in which the institution can help manage those challenges. Thus far, those consultations have yielded some key themes, including financial hardship—which is no surprise given today's inflationary environment—challenges with availability of information, additional barriers faced particularly by international students, and challenges raised to provincially imposed Ph.D. timelines.
On the point of the province and its requirements, it also bears mentioning that McMaster, as an Ontario-based university, is having to manage the unique landscape of how our provincial government is administering its post-secondary system, which is adding to the already substantial challenge of federal funding.
For example, and as the committee no doubt has heard before, tuition rates in Ontario were rolled back by 10% in 2019 and have been frozen since. When that is coupled with the freezing of our provincial operating grants since 2016 and federal grants for master's and Ph.D. students not having increased since 2003, one starts to see a very depressing picture for the state of post-secondary funding in Canada.
On this it bears highlighting that there has for some time been a disconnect between government priorities and the fiscal realities faced by institutions. For example, in terms of global competitiveness, Ontario universities' offers are insufficient to attract top talent. Top U.S. schools will often waive tuition for excellent graduate students, while European universities can typically charge no tuition at all. Adding to this that our national economic strategy relies so heavily on new Canadians to fuel continued growth, one can appreciate the mismatch.
From the consultations McMaster has had with its community to date, it is clear that some actions can be taken at an institutional level to help manage the current state of affairs.
First, we can remove limitations for students who want and need more on-campus employment. We can increase awareness of emergency bursary funds and help ensure that our communications, for example in our letters of offer, help students better understand what funding options and resources are available. We can also look to specific faculties to close the timing gaps to better meet provincial requirements.
I want to emphasize that these measures are stopgap measures at best and are frankly ways in which our institution is only managing a situation that is having a profoundly negative impact on post-secondary research across Canada.
I'll pause now and would welcome the opportunity to answer any questions from the committee on any points we've raised or any other points of interest.
Thank you.