Tuition in Canada: Modest increases and widening gaps, 2025/2026
Released: 2025-09-10
As students return to universities and degree-granting colleges this fall, they will face relatively modest changes in tuition fees. However, a closer look at the figures reveals a widening gap in tuition costs between Canadian and international students, as well as a large variation across provinces and territories.
All dollar amounts in this release are adjusted to June 2025 constant dollars, allowing for comparisons over time by removing the effects of inflation.
Slight increases in tuition for both Canadian and international students
Tuition fees for Canadian students have continued to rise gradually since the 2022/2023 school year, though they remain below their peak levels recorded in the 2018/2019 school year. In the 2025/2026 academic year, tuition fees of Canadian undergraduate students are expected to post an average annual increase of 1.4%, bringing them up to $7,734. Canadian graduate students will also experience a slight average annual increase in their tuition, with it expected to rise by 0.9% to $7,978.
In contrast, international students have faced consistent increases in tuition fees. By the 2025/2026 academic year, these fees should reach their highest levels in the past decade. Specifically, international students' undergraduate fees are expected to rise by an average of 2.5% to $41,746 per year, while their graduate fees should increase by 1.5% on average to $24,028.
Chart 1
Average tuition fees for full-time Canadian students, 2015/2016 to 2025/2026
Chart 2
Average tuition fees for full-time international students, 2015/2016 to 2025/2026
Tuition fees of international students rise faster than those of Canadian students
Rising tuition fees for international students have widened the gap in affordability between Canadian and international post-secondary students. In 2025/2026, international undergraduate students are expected to pay more than 5.0 times the tuition of their Canadian counterparts, compared with 3.6 times more one decade earlier. For international graduate students, tuition fees should be more than 3.0 times higher than those of their Canadian counterparts in 2025/2026, compared with 2.2 times higher 10 years ago. Despite the steady climb, higher costs have not deterred international student enrolment.
From 2019/2020 to 2022/2023—the most recent period for which enrolment data are available—full-time international student enrolment in universities increased by 12.9%, from 207,870 to 234,633 students. The federal government's policy change of capping the numbers of international students in Canada, introduced in 2024, adds an element of uncertainty regarding future enrolment trends.
Post-secondary education remains most affordable in Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec
Provincial public funding plays a key role in shaping tuition fees for post-secondary education across Canada, with higher subsidies translating into lower tuition fees for students. Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador receive the most substantial provincial government support, resulting in much lower tuition fees compared with other provinces and territories.
In 2025/2026, Newfoundland and Labrador is expected to remain the most affordable place to study for both Canadian undergraduate ($3,746) and graduate ($4,081) students. Quebec is also expected to remain among the most affordable option for Canadian students, with tuition set at $3,963 for undergraduate students and at $4,307 for graduate students.
By contrast, Canadian undergraduate students in New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia will face the highest tuition in 2025/2026, with average annual fees in each province approaching $10,000. For Canadian graduate students, Nova Scotia and British Columbia will record the highest costs, with average tuition fees expected to exceed $10,000 per year.
For international students, tuition patterns in 2025/2026 should show a similar trend across provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador should be the most affordable province for international undergraduate ($18,867) and graduate students ($6,964), while New Brunswick should also remain a relatively affordable option. By contrast, Ontario will remain the most expensive province, a position it has held for the past decade. International undergraduate tuition is expected to be $49,802 and international graduate tuition, $28,624.
Chart 3
Average undergraduate tuition fees for full-time students, by province or territory, 2025/2026
Chart 4
Average graduate tuition fees for full-time students, by province, 2025/2026
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Note to readers
The data presented in this release are from the annual Tuition and Living Accommodation Costs (TLAC) survey. The survey covers all public degree-granting institutions (universities and colleges) in Canada; that is, institutions that offer programs leading to degrees as defined by the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials: bachelor's degrees, applied (bachelor's) degrees, applied master's degrees, master's degrees and doctoral degrees. These degrees are more commonly offered by universities but may also be offered by colleges. Canadian students, including Canadian citizens and permanent residents, are reported separately from international students.
The TLAC survey was administered from April to June 2025 and data cover the 2025/2026 academic year. Data for 2025/2026 are preliminary. Any required changes will be applied to the 2026/2027 data release, when the 2025/2026 data become final.
Although tuition fee increases are generally regulated by provincial policies, some programs may be exempt from these policies, resulting in possible increases that exceed provincial limits. Tuition fee averages may vary from year to year because of changes in the program structures and fees.
Each institution reports a lower and upper tuition fee for each field of study, representing the minimum and maximum costs across its programs. In some cases, these values are identical. Typically, a single tuition value for each field of study at each institution is calculated by averaging the lower and upper fees. This method applies to Canadian students in most provinces and territories, as well as to all international students. Exceptions exist in Nova Scotia, Quebec and Newfoundland, where in-province students are assigned the lower fee and out-of-province students, the upper fee.
National and provincial tuition fee averages are weighted using 2022/2023 student enrolments from the Postsecondary Student Information System. If the number of enrolments for a given program is unknown, that program is excluded from the averages. The same student enrolment figures are used to weight both academic years (2024/2025 and 2025/2026), thereby making it possible to compare changes in tuition fees.
Master's of Business Administration programs have been excluded from the national and provincial weighted averages to eliminate the effect of the high cost of these programs on the overall tuition fee averages. Dental, medical and veterinary residency programs offered in teaching hospitals and similar locations that may lead to advanced professional certification have also been excluded.
Figures on enrolments are from the 2022/2023 Postsecondary Student Information System.
The fields of study are adapted from the most recent Classification of Instructional Programs, Statistics Canada's standard for classifying instructional programs.
Data in this release do not take into account financial assistance or tax rebates provided to students.
Products
To further explore 2025/2026 tuition fees for degree programs in a visual format, refer to the comprehensive data visualization tool, "Elementary to Postsecondary Student Education Dashboard: Enrolments, Graduations and Tuition Fees."
This comprehensive data visualization tool combines information from three surveys: Tuition and Living Accommodation Costs, Elementary-Secondary Education Survey and the Postsecondary Student Information System. Each survey is released separately, and information includes the cost of tuition, an overview of total enrolment and graduation counts, characteristics of students and programs, and details on new enrolments by gender, age group and student status.
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).
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