University revenues increase more than expenditures in 2023/2024

Released: 2025-07-29

In 2023/2024, the total revenue of Canadian universities increased by $3.5 billion to reach $52.4 billion. Meanwhile, their expenditures rose by $2.3 billion, amounting to $48.7 billion.

Dollar figures in this release are expressed in 2024 constant dollars to enable comparisons over time by removing the effects of inflation.

The $3.5 billion increase in total revenue in 2023/2024 came from several sources: investment income (57.8%), tuition revenue (15.5%) and provincial funding (10.6%). The remaining 16.1% of revenue was attributable to sources such as donations, grants from non-governmental organizations and municipal funds.

The $2.3 billion increase in expenditures mainly came from salaries and benefits (62.1%). Other significant expenses that contributed to this increase included buildings, land acquisitions and improvements (10.2%) and externally contracted services (8.6%). The remaining 19.1% of expenditures included travel expenses and professional fees.

Provincial funding increases

In 2023/2024, provincial funding accounted for just under one-third (32.4%) of total university revenue.

Provincial contributions grew by 2.3% to $17.0 billion, marking the largest annual increase since 2010/2011.

However, the growth in 2023/2024 was uneven across provinces and Yukon. Universities in British Columbia (+12.5%) reported having the largest increase, while those in Nova Scotia (-20.0%) had the largest decrease. In both provinces, changes were mainly attributable to provincial contributions to capital projects. Ontario universities saw their provincial funding increase 1.2%, a notable change following a decade of declines.

Chart 1 
Provincial and territorial funding growth rate by geography, 2022/2023 and 2023/2024

Federal funding declines

In 2023/2024, universities received $4.9 billion in federal funding, which represents a decrease of 1.5% from the previous year. This decline is mainly due to the conclusion of a one-time contribution to a capital project in Manitoba, which affected the associated financing.

Federal funding increased in six provinces and Yukon, with the largest increase being in Prince Edward Island (+44.6%). This increase was largely due to the federal government contributing to the funding of a new building for the University of Prince Edward Island Faculty of Medicine. Conversely, Manitoba experienced the largest decrease in federal funding, with a drop of 33.4%.

Growth in tuition revenue highest since 2019/2020

Tuition revenue rose 3.6% to $15.8 billion in 2023/2024, marking the highest annual growth since 2019/2020.

Tuition revenue accounted for 30.1% of total revenue in 2023/2024, making it the second-largest source of income after provincial and territorial funding. Over the past decade, tuition revenue as a share of total revenue has increased by 5.4%.

Chart 2 
Tuition revenues as a share of total revenue by geography, 2013/2014 and 2023/2024

Newfoundland and Labrador experienced the largest increase in tuition revenue (+14.4%), followed closely by Saskatchewan (+11.8%).

The increase in tuition revenue in Newfoundland and Labrador was mainly attributable to the implementation of a new tuition framework in 2022, which established an annual increase of 4.0% in tuition fees until 2026.

Investment returns almost double in 2023/2024

Universities had a total interest income of $4.2 billion in 2023/2024. This was almost double (+94.2%) the $2.2 billion recorded in the previous year. Investment income (+57.8%) was the largest contributor to the $3.5 billion increase in total revenue for 2023/2024. A gain in investment returns was reported by all provinces and Yukon.

Investment income is not a guaranteed income source and is influenced by economic conditions, which can result in higher interest income in some years as compared with others.

Chart 3 
Contribution of revenue sources to total revenue growth, 2023/2024

Ancillary revenue grows slower than in the previous year

Ancillary revenue comes from non-core university activities such as student residences, parking fees, facility rentals and cafeteria services.

In 2023/2024, university ancillary revenue totalled $3.5 billion, up 5.0% from the previous year. This marked a slowdown from the rebounds seen in 2021/2022 (+50.3%) and 2022/2023 (+20.2%), which followed a substantial decline in 2020/2021 (-47.6%) due to campus closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While provinces like Prince Edward Island (+9.8%), Quebec (+8.9%) and Saskatchewan (+6.7%) experienced growth in 2023/2024, Newfoundland and Labrador (-10.9%) had the largest drop.

The decline in Newfoundland and Labrador deviated from the overall trend and was primarily due to the closure of its facilities for upgrades in preparation for the 2025 Canada Games.

University expenses increase

Universities' spending rose by 4.9% to $48.7 billion in 2023/2024. This represents the highest annual growth in five years, significantly surpassing the average annual increase of 0.1% during this period.

The most notable year-over-year increases in expenditures were seen in travel expenses (+21.0%), externally contracted services (+12.7%), buildings, land acquisitions and improvements (+11.7%) and professional fees (+10.1%).

Total expenditures rose in every province and Yukon. Prince Edward Island (+8.7%) recorded the largest increase. In contrast, both Ontario (+3.5%) and Alberta (+3.5%) had the smallest increases.

Salaries and benefits, the primary expenses of universities, accounted for 60.5% of total expenditures and increased by 5.0% in 2023/2024, following a 1.2% rise the previous year.

The increase in salaries was mainly attributable to a renewal of collective agreements and retroactive payments, which factored in the higher inflation rate since the pandemic, resulting in increased compensation.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).