Thursday, May 1, 2025

The Budget Information Forum in focus 

Nearly 2,000 members of the University community tuned in to the Budget Information Forum livestream event on Wednesday, April 2 that featured University leaders providing an update on the University’s financial challenges and the strategies to return to a balanced budget. 

President Vivek Goel opened the meeting by discussing the economic and political environment in which the post-secondary sector finds itself. 

“We understand the uncertainty related to the current financial challenges, in addition to challenges across the sector and our wider global context,” said President Vivek Goel. “We know this can be stressful for everyone. We hope this forum can help address some of the uncertainty as we continue to work on ways to support our employees through this period.” 

Goel highlighted the Waterloo at 100 goals as institutional guideposts, referring to them as the “north star.” He also spoke about the values – thinking differently, acting with purpose, and working together—that would help Waterloo come together to address the challenges the institution faces. 

Vice-President, Academic and Provost Jim Rush then gave an overview of recent operating budget trends and highlighted the revenue and expenses. Dr. Rush explained that salaries and benefits currently make up over three quarters of the operating budget. He noted that the University was projected to end the year 2024-2025 with a $32M structural deficit that would carry over to the 2025-2026 year.  

The proposed 2025-2026 operating budget, Rush said, includes significant expense constraint activities to remove $50M from the total projected deficit via ongoing measures to leave a $44M structural operating deficit for the end of the first year of the three-year plan. There will be significant expense reductions expected each year throughout the 3-year planning period ending in 2027-2028 as part of the plan to return to a balanced budget. 

“The majority of those savings are going to come from finding efficiencies and reductions in the salary budget,” Provost Rush said. “And there are a variety of processes already underway that are assisting in that, including the carryover from the previous year’s efforts, and also closing long-term open positions and normal attrition through retirements and resignations occurring in conjunction with the hiring freeze that will remain in place.” 

“But inevitably, there also will need to be some targeted redundancies that will be required to meet the budgetary goals,” Rush said. 

Vice-President, Administration and Finance Jacinda Reitsma then gave an update on capital projects both recently completed and currently underway, and provided an explanation on how these projects were funded and why the University was continuing with them during a time of budgetary deficits and fiscal restraint. 

Reitsma explained how funding sources for capital projects came from a variety of sources, specific to each project, including grants, donations, student and residence fees, and capital funds accumulated over a number of years. The build-up of these capital reserves allowed the University to move forward with large capital projects, Reitsma said, highlighting the Waterloo Eye Institute as an example. The new residence building across University Avenue, as another example, did not impact the operating budget because it is being funded by student residence fees. 

Reitsma then spoke about the issue of deferred maintenance. “I know that we've shared openly around some of the needs of the University, and we're not unlike other universities that are also at an age where the maintenance of buildings need to be addressed,” Reitsma said. She highlighted safety upgrades in the Humanities Theatre and the Physical Activities Complex roof replacement project as examples. 

Reitsma said that there were no new major capital projects currently in the pipeline. “We want to finish the projects we have,” she said. “We want to look carefully at sources of funding before we move forward.” In addition, the Campus Plan currently in development will guide future decisions on capital projects. 

Next up was an update on the state of the functional reviews. Reitsma said that the reviews of the University’s communications and marketing, IT, and finance functions were in the process of being wrapped up and that work was underway to reduce duplication and improve efficiency. “As we move forward with the three-year plan, I also want to highlight that we will be looking at various ways to conduct reviews of other processes and other areas as well,” Reitsma said. 

The bulk of the forum was given over to a question-and-answer period. Unlike previous forums, where questions were asked live from the floor, or in the online chat, forum organizers took questions in advance—nearly 200 of them—and grouped them into thematic areas. Associate Vice-President, Communications Nick Manning moderated the Q&A period. 

The first thematic area was around layoffs and job security.  

“First of all, we recognize this is a source of deep anxiety and concern in the community and we see almost every day other post-secondary institutions announcing program closures or large-scale layoffs,” said President Goel. “Being in the situation of having to have mass layoffs is something we are working hard to avoid.” 

Reitsma acknowledged that there have been some layoffs already occurring in some units but stressed that the University’s leaders were working to avoid the situation of mass layoffs. “Beyond numbers and graphs, we know these are positions, jobs, and most importantly, people,” she said. 

The theme of shared sacrifice was also discussed, with some questions from the community asking about any potentially inequitable distribution of cuts among frontline workers versus senior leaders. Executive salaries were also highlighted. 

“Everything is on the table, everything is being considered as we look at our current situation,” President Goel said. “We are reviewing the executive compensation frameworks we have…the hiring freeze is applying across all ranks, including most senior executive ranks where vacancies haven’t been filled. We will see changes in the composition of executive ranks as we go through this period.” 

Provost Rush also stated that the University remains committed to the work that it started as a result of the PART report recommendations and the institution’s commitment to Indigenous reconciliation. “That remains top of mind in trying to prioritize ways to best position and support that activity in the context of the challenges we’re facing,” Rush said. 

Other question areas included upcoming salary negotiations and settlements, the feasibility of the institution borrowing money to cover expenses, and the possibility of another voluntary retirement initiative. Workplace culture, morale and burnout was another area of discussion, including the approach to hybrid work. 

Manning informed the virtual audience that updates would be continually added to the Waterloo Budget Plan website, including answers to the questions posed during the information forum, and invited members of the community to continue to send questions and suggestions to budget@uwaterloo.ca.  

President Goel then made closing remarks. “We need to take care of ourselves and take care of each other as we work through this difficult time,” he said in conclusion. 

At its meeting on Monday, April 7, the University's Senate recommended that the Board of Governors approve the 2025-2026 operating budget. The Board of Governors met on Tuesday, April 15 and approved the budget. 

Last week, the Ontario government announced a $750M investment to support Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs at post-secondary institutions across the province. Speaking to the Waterloo Region Record on April 26, Jacinda Reitsma said, “There are certainly concerns about funding, and we’re very grateful for any funding that we do receive.”