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Ontario ended the 2023-24 fiscal year with a smaller deficit than expected, finishing just $600 million in the red. This is an improvement from the projected $1.3 billion deficit in the 2023 budget.
The province’s public accounts revealed that revenues were $1.6 billion higher than anticipated, an 8% boost. A large part of this increase came from international student tuition at colleges. Since the Ontario government cut domestic tuition by 10% in 2019, colleges have increasingly relied on international students to make up for the shortfall.
However, the federal government is now cutting the number of international student permits, which could cost Ontario’s college sector up to $3 billion over the next two years. Government officials are still unsure how further visa reductions will impact the province’s finances moving forward.
Written by Jeremy Hall