High-school students face strong competition from laid-off workers for limited spots at Toronto universities and colleges.

by M. A. Hamad


University of Toronto campus. Photo credit: http://www.utoronto.ca

High-school students planning to continue on to a higher education in Toronto could face significant competition for limited spots from “someone in their 40s” or “someone in their 20s who spent a couple of years backpacking around Europe”, says John Milloy, Minister for Training, Colleges and Universities in Ontario.

OUAC director George Granger says holidays will be a busy time for students who must get their university applications in before January 13th. Deadlines for college applications are only slightly more forgiving, ending by February 1st. According to Milloy, however, even if the deadlines are reached, Grade 12 students will not be guaranteed priority.

With a 10 per cent growth in applications in recent years, competition between applicants is strong. Unemployment is causing laid-off workers to seek an education in more practical fields, some aided by an Ontario government program that helps finance their education, which makes a spot even harder to achieve.

NDP leader Andrea Horwath believes the government should have prepared for such an obvious issue, however she doesn’t believe that students should be given priority.

“At this point, I don't think it's appropriate to say, 'you're going to be the winners here,' to identify one group or the other and 'you're going to be the losers here,' and identify one group or the other,” says Horwath.

Milloy says that colleges and universities work with the government to ensure that the most qualified students get in, no matter what their background.

Summary: Competition for limited spots in the universities and colleges of Toronto becomes even stronger with the economic crisis as unemployed workers seek a higher education as well, with no priority given to Grade 12 students.