The Alberta Budget 2021, released on Feb. 25, revealed a decrease of $350 million for the province’s higher learning institutions. It is estimated to further decrease by about $50 million more next year.
Lethbridge College does not have exact figures of how much is needs to cut its budget right now, but they are finding ways to make sure the quality of academic programming does not suffer. Paula Burns, president and CEO of Lethbridge College, says the budget cut was a little bit higher than expected.
“It’s always disappointing when you have to reduce your budget and when the operating grant that you get is less. But, as I said, we did expect a certain amount and we have been working hard to make sure that we can continue to deliver on our mission.”
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Mike Mahon, president of the University of Lethbridge, says while he understands the province’s fiscal challenges, cutting post-secondary funding is not the way to go and will not benefit the province.
“There is a point at which cutting us too severely undermines our ability to be competitive both in Canada and around the world.”
Mahon says the U of L cut its budget by $5.7 million and reduced their workforce by 9.2 per cent. However, further cuts in the future are inevitable.
Despite the budget cut, both institutions are working to maintain the delivery of high-quality education.
Budget 2021 injected $1.25 billion into the health care system to fight COVID-19. However, according to a Feb. 26 statement released by the Council of Post-Secondary Presidents of Alberta (COPPOA), the government needs to “reduce red tape and government-imposed rules that prevent institutions from realizing more own-sourced revenue to improve their financial sustainability.”
