Carleton to cut back on contract instructors amid $32-million budget hole

Carleton University is planning to slash its contract instructor workforce in half as it deals with a $32-million deficit, much to the dismay of the instructors' union.

At a meeting on April 29, the university's board of governors approved its 2025-26 budget, which saw its financial shortfall grow by $6 million over 2024-25 and which includes a plan to avoid a potential $80-million deficit by 2028-29.

But the steps being taken to stave off further financial woes are concerning, said Ryan Conrad, a contract instructor and president of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 4600, which represents Carleton's contract instructors, teaching assistants and research assistants. 

"The working conditions of the faculty are the learning conditions of the students," he said. "If Carleton becomes known for low-quality education, it's kind of like a downward death spiral."

A spokesperson for the university explained the "ongoing financial instability" by citing the Ontario government's corridor funding model, the tuition cut and freeze, the payouts following the repeal of Bill 124 and the change to international students' visas. 

But Conrad said the university didn't plan for predictable problems or communicate well with staff about their plans.

Effects on the university

Carleton's financial framework — meant to eliminate the projected $80 million deficit — outlines several steps it intends to take, including developing attractive new programs, reviewing existing programs' cost and quality, increasing fees and cutting contract instructors by 50 per cent.

Staff were anticipating cuts this year, Conrad said, as they knew the school was struggling to balance the budget.

Contract instructors, he said, are particularly vulnerable because they can be let go at the end of any four-month contract.

They had no idea what to expect until they got an email two weeks before Christmas, he added, that revealed half of them wouldn't be back next year.

"The dean essentially sent a layoff notice to all of the faculty of arts and social science ... and framed it as a cost-saving achievement," Conrad said. "It was completely tone-deaf."

Concerns about provincial funding

The problems at Carleton are part of a provincewide trend, according to Steve Orsini, president and CEO of the Council of Ontario Universities.

"Real per student funding has not kept up with the needs of students," Orsini said.

The Ford government, he argued, should help universities cover the costs associated with repealing Bill 124 — which had capped salary increases for many public sector workers until it was ruled unconstitutional — and both double the temporary funding it provided a year ago and make it permanent. 

"The province is responding, but not sufficiently to really address the financial challenges we face," he said. 

But Conrad said he feels the province's underfunding has been "intentional" and that after this winter's election — which saw Premier Doug Ford get a third term — he's worried that nothing will change.

"People voted for Doug Ford, and that means they voted against universities," he said.

Conrad also feels Carleton didn't prepare well for budget shortfalls, noting that when Bill 124 was in the courts, the university could have started to put aside money.

"Carleton essentially illegally saved money for three years through the suppression of wages," he said.

Using international students to subsidize education was wrong, he added, and the result of "decades of poor management," although Conrad acknowledged it was in response to provincial underfunding.

Spokespeople for the Ford government have repeatedly defended the province's post-secondary funding, pointing in a comment made in March to the plan to invest $750 million to expand STEM and skilled trades programs.

The University of Ottawa and Queen's University expect to release their budgets for the upcoming school year sometime in May, spokespeople said.