Day of Reckoning Looming for Universities

The University of Toronto campus on June 10, 2020. The plunge in numbers of foreign students due to the pandemic could pose a challenge for many Canadian universities. The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette

Commentary

The pandemic has brought a financial day of reckoning clearly into focus for Canada’s universities. The immediate crisis comes from a collapse in revenue from declining foreign student enrolment. But the plunge in foreign student numbers is just the revenue side of the challenges; there are significant spending problems as well.