April 9, 2021
Province to Amend Bill 33: The Advanced Education Administration Amendment Act
After consultations with post-secondary student groups, the Manitoba government will be making an amendment to language in Bill 33: The Advanced Education Administration Amendment Act, Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration Minister Wayne Ewasko announced today.
“We want to make it clear that Bill 33 excludes fees set by student unions or associations from future tuition and student fee guidelines,” said Ewasko. “Fees set by student unions and associations are not included in this bill as they are approved by students in a democratic process.”
Bill 33 would remove the legislated tuition formula and enable the minister of Manitoba’s Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration to issue guidelines concerning tuition fees and student fees charged by universities and colleges. This would allow the minister to protect students from overly large tuition and student fee increases, and ensure that post-secondary education remains accessible and affordable.
The definition of ‘student fee’ would be amended to clarify that a student fee does not include fees set by, or payable in respect of, a student union or student association of a university or college.
“We thank student groups for their active engagement with myself and my ministry to make positive changes to post-secondary education. Students should know the purpose of Bill 33 is to help Manitoba students continue to enjoy the lowest university and college tuition rates in Western Canada,” said Ewasko. “The bill balances student affordability with institutional goals to continue to provide leading edge, high quality programming to support student success.”
The amendment will be added to the legislation on April 13.
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