Study
| EST. READ TIME 1 MIN.Education spending increases while public school student enrolment declines
To accurately understand education spending, enrolment changes must be included. For Canada as a whole, the increase in per-student spending in public schools after accounting for the effects of price changes was 30.8% between 2003-04 and 2012-13; from $9,231 to $12,070.
Saskatchewan saw the largest increase in per-student spending in public schools after adjusting for price changes. It experienced a 43.8% increase from $9,929 in 2003-04 to $14,282 in 2012-13. Neighbouring Manitoba recorded the smallest increase (14.9%).
In aggregate, Canada increased education spending in public schools by $13.8 billion from 2003-04 to 2012-13 more than was necessary to account for enrolment and price changes. If per student spending in public schools had remained constant over this period, the aggregate amount of education spending in public schools in 2012-13 would have been 22.8% lower. Such increases in spending need to be considered in the context of the overall finances of each of the provinces. For example, four provinces (British Columbia, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador) would have moved from a deficit position to a surplus in 2012-13 had spending on education in public schools been held constant for the 2003-04 to 2012-13 period (adjusting only for price and enrolment changes).
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Jason Clemens
Executive Vice President, Fraser Institute -
Deani Van Pelt
Senior Fellow, Fraser InstituteDeani Van Pelt is a Senior Fellow and Former Director of the Barbara Mitchell Centre for Improvement in Education at theFraser Institute. Following her studies at McMaster University (B.Comm.) and the University of Toronto (B.Ed.) she taught mathematics and business subjects in both public and private secondary schools. She then completed her M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Education at The University of Western Ontario where she was awarded the Bishop Townshend Gold Medal Award for excellence in graduate studies. From 2006 to 2014 she served at Redeemer University College, first as Assistant Professor and then as Associate Professor of Education. During this time she led several international research collaborations funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, taught a variety of courses including Systems of Education, and was Director of Teacher Education for four years. Her research and publications in Canadian education policy include studies in home schooling, independent schooling and education funding. She has presented numerous times over the last two decades in academic and practitioner conferences across North America. Recently a co-author of the Fraser Institute studies Education Spending in Canada: What’s Really Happening? and Financial Savings: Restructuring Education in Ontario Using the British Columbia Model, she continues to appear on TV and in radio talk shows across Canada. Her work has been featured in many Canadian newspapers including the National Post and Globe and Mail and she has served as an expert witness.… Read more -
Joel Emes
Senior Economist, Fraser Institute