Ottawa students, staff, and taxpayers have a reason to pay close attention to the latest sunshine list numbers — Ontario's 24 publicly funded college presidents averaged a staggering $500,000 each in total compensation in 2025, even as institutions across the province continued laying off staff and cutting programs.
Half a Million While Campuses Cut Costs
The eye-popping figures come at a particularly painful moment for Ontario's college sector. Since the federal government introduced a cap on international student permits at the start of 2024, colleges have been scrambling to cope with a dramatic drop in enrolment — and the tuition revenue that comes with it.
International students had become a financial lifeline for many Ontario institutions over the past decade, often paying three to four times what domestic students pay. When Ottawa (the federal government, that is) tightened the tap, colleges were left holding the bag.
The fallout has been significant: program suspensions, staff reductions, and warnings of longer-term financial instability. Yet, according to newly released compensation data, executive pay at the top didn't budge.
Ottawa's Colleges in the Crosshairs
For residents of Ottawa, this story hits close to home. Algonquin College and La Cité — two of the city's largest post-secondary institutions — both rely heavily on international enrolment to balance their books. Algonquin, in particular, had built up one of the largest international student programs in the province before the federal cap took effect.
Both schools have faced tough conversations about resource allocation over the past year. Students and faculty have watched programs get reviewed, support services strained, and in some cases colleagues shown the door — all while executive compensation data suggests the view from the top floor remained comfortable.
A Province-Wide Reckoning
The salary figures are fuelling calls for greater accountability in how publicly funded institutions are run. Critics argue that when colleges are effectively operating on a government-backed safety net — public tuition frameworks, provincial grants, and federally regulated student pipelines — executive pay should reflect the reality on the ground.
Student advocacy groups have been particularly vocal, arguing that the compensation gap between frontline staff and college presidents has become impossible to justify, especially when students are being asked to accept fewer services and tighter resources.
Supporters of current pay structures counter that college presidents manage large, complex organizations and that competitive salaries are necessary to attract qualified leadership. But that argument is getting harder to sell when the institutions in question are posting deficits and handing out pink slips.
What Comes Next
The Ontario government has so far stopped short of intervening directly on executive compensation at colleges, though the issue is gaining traction at Queen's Park. Advocates are pushing for tighter guidelines tied to institutional financial performance.
For Ottawa students enrolled at Algonquin or La Cité, or for families weighing post-secondary options in the coming years, the message from this year's numbers is uncomfortable: the people at the top are doing just fine — even when the institution isn't.
Expect this conversation to get louder as colleges head into another uncertain enrolment cycle.
Source: Global News Ottawa
