Alex Usher: How Canada is Paying for Ontario’s Higher Education Debacle Artwork

The Missing Middle with Mike Moffatt and Sabrina Maddeaux

Welcome to the Missing Middle, a podcast about why the middle class in Canada is disappearing. We hope to help you understand why life is becoming unaffordable for so many in this country, and what can be done to reverse course.

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The Missing Middle with Mike Moffatt and Sabrina Maddeaux

Alex Usher: How Canada is Paying for Ontario’s Higher Education Debacle

January 29, 2025 • Cara Stern, Mike Moffatt, and Meredith Martin • Season 1 • Episode 92

After the federal government capped the number of international students it let into Canada many colleges and universities saw a drastic decrease in enrollment. As a result colleges are slashing programs while universities struggle to balance their books. Why is this happening and who is responsible? Alex Usher, a sector expert and higher education consultant, joins Mike Moffatt and Sabrina Maddeaux in this week’s episode of the Missing Middle podcast. They discuss the impact of international students on the housing crisis, the financial challenges faced by colleges and universities and the implications of recent policy changes particularly in trades programs and apprenticeships.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

01:35 Summary higher education policy changes

04:23 Decreasing rents in southern Ontario

05:26 How Canada pays for Ontario’s mismanagement

06:36 The disproportionate impact on northern and rural colleges

08:16 Are trades programs at risk?

12:13 Why should we care about the college sector?

14:21Universites have unique challenges

16:40 Why has the Ford government escaped security?

17:49 Feel richer now policies

19:17 Higher education focused policy ideas