CCFA Calls for Changes to Province’s Post-Secondary Education Review

Camosun College Faculty Association (CCFA)
Victoria, BC

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A Sustainability Review Without Funding Will Push Costs onto Students and Undermine the Public Mandate of the Colleges and Institutes Act

The Camosun College Faculty Association is calling on the province to put affordability first in the newly launched Review of Sector Sustainability. The Government has stated—before the review even begins—that no new public funding will be considered.

For community colleges across British Columbia, this limitation is not just unrealistic; it is incompatible with the purposes of the Colleges and Institutes Act, which mandates colleges to provide accessible, affordable public education and serve diverse community needs across regions.

“The province has repeatedly said that its biggest priority is affordability,” says CCFA President Lynelle Yutani. “Yet in a time when students are not able to get the courses they need to graduate into well-paying jobs, the government is signalling it will raise tuition and cut programs instead of investing in British Columbians’ future.”

If the Government Won’t Fund the System, Students and Families Will Pay the Price

The province’s review acknowledges that many public institutions are already facing structural deficits, declining enrolment, depleted reserves, rising costs, and the impacts of federal international-student policy changes. But without public investment, the only remaining levers are tuition increases, program cuts, fewer supports, larger classes, or institutional mergers—all outcomes that shift the burden onto students, families, and local communities.

“The province is engaging in a once-in-a-generation investigation into post-secondary education sustainability with the best solution—adequate funding—already off the table,” says Yutani. “How can we safeguard the future of this province while pre-emptively closing the door to the only thing that will stabilize the system?”

Community Consultation Cannot Be an Afterthought

The terms of reference emphasize efficiency, governance changes, and labour-market alignment, but community consultation is conspicuously absent. Colleges don’t just serve industry—they serve entire regions: Indigenous learners, rural communities, newcomers, working adults, youth, and people seeking second chances.

“A sustainability review without meaningful community input risks reshaping the system around budgets, not people,” says Yutani.  “This contradicts both the purpose of Community Colleges and the lived reality of the communities we serve.”

“If the Government won’t fund sustainability, it will never be sustainable,” says Yutani. “Our communities deserve better.”

CCFA Calls for Immediate Adjustments to the Review

1. Remove the “no new funding” restriction. A sustainability review cannot succeed if the primary solution is forbidden. How can the province claim to support regional access, community needs, and economic priorities while refusing to invest in the institutions that deliver them?
2. Extend and broaden the consultation period. Community voices—not just industry and institutional leaders—must shape the future of their public colleges. How can the review be authentic if the province refuses to hear from the very people who stand to pay the highest price and may lose the most?
3. Ensure alignment with the Colleges and Institute Act, reaffirming that public education is a common good, not a cost centre to be offloaded onto students and families. How can the province keep this promise to operate public post-secondary institutions in the public interest if it won’t?

Media Contact:

Lynelle Yutani, President
Camosun College Faculty Association (CCFA)
ac.ytlucafnusomac@tnediserp
www.camosunfaculty.ca