University Costs : The Cost of University in Canada

Written in 2008 and the story continues to be very similar. Tuition took a brief hiatus in Ontario but will start going back up in the coming years. University Costs are not just Tuition. However, it is all those service fees thrown in. Remember, many are voluntary, so you don’t have to pay them. The cost of a University in Canada may not be as astronomical as in the USA, but it isn’t cheap.

So Stats Canada came out last week (October 2009) with some fascinating numbers about the cost of University across Canada and the relative increase in prices. I find this interesting because I will have two kids in university this coming year, and I am learning a lot about the “Ins and Outs” of University fees (which seem even more complicated than bank fees, if that is possible).

The main message from the article was that Tuition Fees are up 3.6% from 08/09 to 09/10 Academic year, which means their inflationary increase is almost as good as Foods meteoric price increases.

On average, undergraduate students in Ontario also paid the highest fees in Canada at $5,951. Students in Nova Scotia had the second-highest average tuition fees at $5,696.

I feel so honoured to be the most gouged in all of Canada, and I’d like to point out that is the Average, which means some schools are more than that (and different faculties in those schools are even higher).

Tuition Only

Tuition is the other more critical point in this study, in that Tuition is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to University costs. Yet, it is the only part of those costs that are tax-deductible (living expenses are somewhat deductible, but only in the student’s hands). The price of a University education in Canada includes many add-on fees.

Nationally, the additional compulsory fees increased 6.8% compared with last year. On average, Canadian undergraduate students paid $749 in additional mandatory fees in 2009/2010, up from $701 a year earlier.

How bad can the fees be, you ask? Let me run through the list of fees I paid for four months for my daughter at WLU (this is excluding Tuition):

• Administrative Council Fee $29.92
• Copyright Agreement Fee $1.70
• Comprehensive Student Fees $150
• Student Union Building Fee $26

Now I don’t mean to pick on my daughter’s Alma Mater. However, these are only SOME of the fees I pay (along with a Bus pass fee and Insurance plans). Hefty eh? Oh, did I mention she also pays $450 rent for a room and has to pay for her groceries? Yes, this is not cheap, and it is not getting any cheaper either.

With a 4% increase a year, think of this exciting statement: if you have a newborn by the time they want to go to University, Tuition costs will have doubled. I think they will have MORE than doubled by that time, and the fees being charged will also increase. The cost of a University education in Canada needs to be addressed in your Personal Finance plan.