Ontario funds 2,776 new seats at Toronto Metropolitan University

The province has invested $73 million to fund 2,776 additional seats at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), according to the Government of Ontario. A seat is, in effect, a place the province funds: it pays universities to teach domestic students. Of the new seats, 2,115 are in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), 627 in health and 34 in education, and they open as early as fall 2026.

The $1.7 billion figure in the announcement is the province-wide total, not TMU’s share, and supports 70,000 new seats. The first 30,000 seats were allocated in May 2026, and a call for proposals opened for the other 40,000. Ontario judged proposals on institutional capacity, local industry needs and student demand.

Nolan Quinn, the colleges and universities minister, called it “the largest seat expansion in Ontario in more than a decade”.

The money follows a period of tighter university finances, as the figures show. In 2022-23, Ontario gave its universities the lowest provincial funding per domestic student of any province, $10,246 against a national average of $16,756, the Financial Accountability Office found. Don Drummond of the C.D. Howe Institute said Ontario universities made nearly $1.28 billion in cuts and deferrals over three years, eliminating 2,500 jobs and suspending or closing 2,700 courses and programs.

The $6.4 billion funding model announced on February 12, 2026 also lets tuition rise by up to 2% a year for three years. From fall 2026, the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) will give students at most 25% of their aid as grants and at least 75% as loans.

Sources: Government of Ontario · Financial Accountability Office of Ontario · C.D. Howe Institute · Toronto Metropolitan University