The Government of Ontario is investing $750 million to support Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs across the province as part of a plan to mitigate the impact of the United States’ (US) tariff actions.
Announced at McMaster University yesterday, the commitment is expected to support more than 20,000 STEM seats per year in publicly-funded colleges and universities across the province. In a statement, the province said the investment would build a “skilled, made-in-Ontario talent pool” to ensure businesses have the highly skilled workers to “retain and grow Ontario’s economic advantage for decades to come.”
The investment “comes at a pivotal moment when Ontario urgently needs to boost its productivity and economic competitiveness.”
Steve Orsini
Council of Ontario Universities
“Our 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.,” Ontario Minister of Colleges Nolan Quinn said in a statement.
Post-secondary institutions can access the funding once they have signed the next Strategic Mandate Agreement, a five-year funding agreement that outlines provincial support for colleges and universities.
According to the province, the number of Ontario students applying to undergraduate STEM programs at Ontario universities jumped by 34 percent from 2020 to 2024. It further claims that, on average, STEM graduates have lower unemployment and higher wages post-graduation than non-STEM counterparts.
“This essential investment will help address the growing demand for university STEM spaces, building the highly skilled workforce Ontario needs in critical sectors like advanced manufacturing, AI, and life sciences,” Council of Ontario Universities president and CEO Steve Orsini said in a statement. “It comes at a pivotal moment when Ontario urgently needs to boost its productivity and economic competitiveness.”
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been under pressure to bolster the province’s economic sovereignty amidst the economic tensions with the US. Last month, 75 Ontario CEOs signed an open letter calling on Ford to prioritize homegrown innovation, including efforts to combat “Ontario’s talent crisis.” The business leaders demanded an industry-driven skills development approach rather than the academic approach announced yesterday.
The new funding follows a report from the province’s Higher Education Quality Control of Ontario earlier this month. The agency found that domestic post-secondary enrolments in Ontario are expected to grow by 45 percent, requiring an additional 225,000 seats by 2046. The report warned that, without planning and funding for the demand, students in Ontario may be left out of their preferred programs.
Last year, the Ontario government committed $1.3 billion to the province’s post-secondary institutions, which also included $100 million to support STEM program costs. The province claimed that, combined with today’s announcement, Ontario has made the largest investment in post-secondary education in its history.
Feature image courtesy Nolan Quinn via LinkedIn.