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Bill 208 Hon. Mr. Eggen

BILL 208

2022

POST-SECONDARY FUNDING ASSESSMENT ACT

(Assented to , 2022)

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, enacts as follows:

Definitions 1 In this Act,

(a) “board” has the same meaning as in the Post-Secondary Learning Act;

(b) “estimates” has the same meaning as in the Financial

Administration Act;

(c) “faculty council” has the same meaning as in the Post-Secondary Learning Act;

(d) “grant” means the funds allocated or granted to a post-secondary

institution from operating support;

(e) “impact analysis” means the analysis referred to in section 3(a);

(f) “Minister” means the Minister designated under section 16 of the Government Organization Act as the Minister responsible for the Post-Secondary Learning Act;

(g) “ministry website” means the publicly accessible website of the

department administered by the Minister;

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(h) “operating support”, in respect of a fiscal year, means the amounts in the estimates for that fiscal year allocated to operating support for post-secondary institutions;

(i) “post-secondary institution” means each of the following as

defined in the Post-Secondary Learning Act:

(i) a public post-secondary institution;

(ii) a publicly funded private post-secondary institution;

(j) “student organization” has the same meaning as in the Post- Secondary Learning Act.

Purposes

2 The purposes of this Act are

(a) to require the Minister to conduct a comprehensive analysis of potential impacts of funding reductions to post-secondary institutions, and

(b) to make information available to the public on the likely impacts

of the level of operating support for post-secondary institutions to

(i) the accessibility and affordability of post-secondary education,

(ii) the quality of post-secondary education,

(iii) economic benefits, and

(iv) community benefits.

Requirement to conduct and publish analysis 3 If, in respect of a fiscal year, operating support decreases by more than 2% from the operating support of the previous fiscal year, the Minister must, no later than 60 days after the date the estimates for the fiscal year are tabled in the Legislative Assembly

(a) conduct, in accordance with sections 4 to 6, an analysis of the potential impact of the decrease in operating support for post- secondary institutions, and

(b) make public the results of that analysis by posting them on the

ministry website.

Consultation 4 In conducting an impact analysis, the Minister must conduct a consultation that includes at least each of the following:

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(a) the publication of the operating support on the ministry website;

(b) consultation with at least each of the following:

(i) the board of each post-secondary institution;

(ii) the student organization of each post-secondary institution;

(iii) the faculty council of each post-secondary institution.

Analysis – economic and community impacts

5 The impact analysis must set out the likely economic and community impacts of the decrease in operating support, including the likely impact on each of the following:

(a) employment;

(b) economic development;

(c) innovation;

(d) community programs.

Analysis – post-secondary institution impacts 6 The impact analysis must, in respect of the impact of the reduction in operating support on each post-secondary institution in the fiscal year, set out

(a) the grant to the post-secondary institution that will be provided from the operating support,

(b) the grant to the post-secondary institution that was provided from

operating support in the previous fiscal year, and

(c) the likely impact on each of the following:

(i) enrollment and program completion;

(ii) research, applied research and innovation programs;

(iii) apprenticeship training;

(iv) partnerships with the private sector;

(v) participation of underrepresented groups, specifically the following:

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(A) Indigenous peoples;

(B) persons with disabilities;

(C) persons living in rural or remote communities;

(D) persons identifying as a member of a sexual or gender

minority;

(E) persons from low income families;

(F) persons of a visible minority;

(vi) academic support and student services;

(vii) instruction and program costs, and tuition costs;

(viii) any other area that the Minister considers appropriate.

Coming into force 7 This Act comes into force June 1, 2022.

Record of Debate

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