Across 170 events on campuses around the country on April 17, faculty, students and staff rallied, displayed art, and organized during the second annual higher education day of action.
A number of universities across the country are reporting a rise in interest and applications from American students.
Updated April 21, 2025 at 7:42 a.m.
April 17, 2025
The University of British Columbia reports a 27 per cent surge in American students applying to graduate programs at the Vancouver campus for the fall 2025 academic year.
Johnathan Hayward/The Canadian Press file photo
By Asma SahebzadaStaff Reporter
Universities across the country are reporting a rise in applications and interest from American students wanting to study in Canada while the Trump administration freezes grants to universities and terminates the legal status of international students.
The University of British Columbia said its Vancouver campus has seen a 27 per cent increase in American citizens applying to graduate programs for the academic year starting this fall. This number has been calculated as of March 1 and is a comparison to the applications received from U.S. citizens at this time last year. However, some graduate programs are still receiving applications from students for the fall term.
Select UBC graduate programs have reopened applications for Americans for the coming school year after the university launched ”U.S. Applicant Week,” which allows for additional American student applications to be submitted to about 75 programs across seven faculties, from April 14-18.
UBC’s provost and vice-president academic, Gage Averill, said the applicant week was driven by interest expressed by prospective students.
For undergraduate programs, Averill said UBC has only seen a two per cent increase of applications from U.S. students compared to last year. (The undergrad application deadline was in January, before Donald Trump’s inauguration.) He said UBC’s acceptances for the coming academic year from U.S. undergrads have doubled, with about 155 acceptances from Americans, compared to 75 during this point last year.
Averill says it’s too early to determine through data if the rise in U.S. students applying to UBC is entirely due to political turmoil south of the border, but he said it’s “indisputable” that the recent surge is in part tied to American politics.
The university has also reported a 20 per cent rise in campus tour attendance by U.S. students between Feb. 1 and March 31 relative to the previous year.
Elsewhere in B.C., Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Graduate Studies saw an increase in applications from U.S. citizens of more than 23 per cent compared to last year. Like UBC, SFU has reopened select graduate programs between April 16-25, with a target audience of Canadians as well as American students looking to study outside the U.S.
A spokesperson for the University of Waterloo also cited more foot traffic on campus from American visitors in recent months and a 15 per cent boost in web traffic originating from the U.S. since September. Additionally, Waterloo’s engineering department has seen “increased interest and applications from potential students” over the past year from the U.S.
Universities here have also seen a surge in interest from Canadian students south of the border.
Michelle Donovan, the associate director of media relations at McMaster University, said the institution has received about 16 per cent more applications from Canadian undergrads living and studying in the U.S. Donovan said the university “cannot confirm if the increase is related to the political situation.”
Although application deadlines for universities vary by program — with competitive programs closing earlier in the year — and while some program applications remain open, a number of other Canadian universities have already seen more American students showing interest and looking northward to pursue their studies.
In a statement , McGill University confirmed bachelor applicants from U.S. high schools looking to study at the university for the 2025-2026 academic year are up by about three per cent, compared to the same period last year.
American citizens account for 30 per cent of all international bachelor’s students at McGill. While the university has seen an uptick in interest from American bachelor’s applicants, it said the number of students applying to master’s and doctoral programs from U.S. universities remains stable.
The University of Toronto has also seen a jump in applications from American students for the coming school year. A spokesperson wouldn’t specify the numbers and didn’t provide a reason the school is “seeing a meaningful increase” in U.S. applications over recent years.
According to the university’s statistics, in the 2023-24 academic year (fall to spring) 1,315 American students were enrolled at the school out of 29,547 international students, including graduate and undergraduate studies.
The interest from U.S. students looking north underscores the academic uncertainty as the Trump administration pulls federal funding, rolls back DEI programs, cracks down on immigration and pushes to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. This week, Harvard University defied Trump’s demands to restrict activism on campus, risking more than $2.2 billion (U.S.) in federal grants and $60 million in contracts.
Averill said UBC is conscious of “not wanting to do any more damage to U.S. schools than has been done to them,” but empowering students who face education uncertainty is important.
“These are our sister institutions and we support them in their right to be autonomous and to make academic decisions, but I think we want to make sure that we’re also taking care of students who are seeing their aspirations not coming about in the U.S. and need other options.”
Asma Sahebzada is a Toronto-based general assignment reporter for the Star. Reach her via email: asahebzada@thestar.ca
Colleges and universities will receive a $750 million boost from the Ontario government for 20,500 spaces in science and engineering programs each year, helping fill — but not close — a growing funding gap for schools, the Star has learned.
April 22, 2025
Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn is shown in the Ontario legislature on April 14, 2025.
Cole Burston/The Canadian Press
By Kristin RushowyQueen’s Park Bureau
Colleges and universities will receive a $750 million boost from the Ontario government for 20,500 spaces in science and engineering programs each year, helping fill — but not close — a growing funding gap for schools, the Star has learned.
Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn is set to make the announcement Tuesday morning at McMaster University in Hamilton, which will receive about $22 million per year over the next five years.
“Between 2020 and 2024, the growth in STEM (enrolment) was 34 per cent and a lot of jobs are going there,” Quinn told the Star, referring to the “significant” uptick in science, technology, engineering and math that now sees 70,000 graduates a year.
Rates of employment are higher and “wages are higher … so we see a real linkage between what the labour market (requires) and what we’re able to provide,” he said. “This is a way to work towards the future.”
A recent report by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario estimated the province needs 225,000 additional post-secondary spaces overall in the next 20 years for domestic students, given an increase in demand. It warned that without proper funding and planning, teens may find it tough to get into the programs they want.
The $750 million over five years will, in particular, help those schools that accepted more STEM students than they receive funding for, as they attempt to meet the already growing demand.
The funding is an “essential investment … (that) comes at a pivotal moment when Ontario urgently needs to boost its productivity and economic competitiveness,” said Steve Orsini, president and CEO of the Council of Ontario Universities, in a written statement.
Post-secondary institutions are grappling with rising deficits, the fallout of an ongoing tuition freeze and increasing operating costs at a time when the federal government has significantly cut back the number of international students, whose tuition fees most schools came to rely on for extra revenue amid stagnant funding from the province.
The Ford government previously increased funding by $1.3 billion over three years to help address those financial pressures, although schools noted at that time the amount was half of what the government’s own expert panel had recommended.
While schools have been suspending programs and even closing campuses to make ends meet, the new funding is not expected to halt many of the planned cuts.
Quinn is also set to announce that schools that took in fewer students than their “corridor” funding provided for will be able to keep the additional funds for STEM spots, a $17 million move that will mainly aid colleges.
Maureen Adamson, the interim president and CEO of Colleges Ontario, welcomed the additional funding, saying colleges “are training the workforce our economy needs now more than ever,” including in construction, manufacturing, life sciences, and mining and energy.
The “corridor” model, which has not been updated in about a decade, provides a set amount of funding to schools as long as enrolment falls within a certain range.
This school year, some 28,000 domestic students fell above the corridor — meaning they were unfunded at a cost of $200 million to the schools that took them in. The new funding will help address that.
Quinn is also promising a long-overdue look at the post-secondary funding model which could begin later this year, now that schools have signed on to five-year funding agreements.
While the additional funds do not include non-STEM areas such as teacher education, Quinn noted the province has increased the number of spaces for French-language educators.
“We are continually, continually engaged with our stakeholders to understand where the need is,” Quinn told the Star.
At least one Ontario university has already told professors it expects to move hundreds of spaces in arts programs to STEM as a result of the announcement.
Not including the newest funding, the province spends about $5 billion each year on post-secondary education.
Quinn said the provincial government is “working to protect Ontario by building a more resilient economy that can withstand whatever comes our way,” including tariffs and economic uncertainty from the U.S.
He said the province’s 24 colleges and 23 universities that are publicly assisted “play a vital role in arming our economy with a highly skilled workforce.”
Kristin Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @krushowy.
Join hundreds of workers from across Canada for a virtual Debate Watch Party and make your voice heard
No matter if it’s housing, healthcare, the economy, or anything in between, every election issue affects 2SLGBTQI communities. That’s why it’s essential for 2SLGBTQI experiences to be understood in elections at every level.
With so much at stake in the upcoming federal election, our ability to engage and activate our membership effectively will help secure the best outcomes for workers across Canada.
Reckless Trump tariffs, economic uncertainty, and shifting voter priorities are shaping the national discourse. This election will determine the future of labour rights, job security, and social policies for years to come — we cannot afford to leave anything to chance.
Polling shows the Top Concerns of Canadians are:
Tariffs, Cost of Living, Healthcare, The Economy, and Housing Affordability.
The CLC has developed messaging resources to support a consistent national narrative:
• Tariff Key Messages (EN / FR): Background on the issue, Trump tariff impacts, and CLC positioning.
• Workers Together Playbook – (EN / FR) – Outlines core components of the election campaign.
• Rapid Response Key Messages – Updated weekly throughout the writ period to reflect emerging narratives.
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Or text “Workers” to 55255
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The Waterloo Region Labour Council (WRLC) invites you to join them for their annual Day of Mourning ceremony. This solemn event will honor and remember workers who have suffered injuries, illnesses, or have tragically lost their lives on the job.Date: April 28thTime: 10:30 amLocation: City of Waterloo Workers Memorial (outside Waterloo City Hall)Click here for a printable poster!
This year’s Day of Mourning theme is “Workers demand action on invisible injuries and hazards”. To ensure that workers are protected from all hazards in the workplace, we are asking all levels of government to, without delay:
• Create greater awareness of invisible injuries and hazards through public awareness campaigns.
• Legislate air quality standards for indoor workers.
• Ensure workers know the chemicals they use by ending WHIMIS consumer product exemptions and raising the standard for WHMIS education.
• Deliver consistent coverage of workplace injuries, including invisible injuries like chronic pain and stress.
The federal election is also on April 28. Canada’s unions are urging workers to support politicians who prioritize workers’ best interests – like by upholding and enhancing workplace health and safety laws – and who will put workers first, above corporate interests. We encourage everyone to make an e-day plan.
Here’s a rundown of each party’s platform on higher education
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