Refer to the Finance website.
For the past three fiscal years ending in 2023/24, the University’s budgets were healthy as we managed a very significant backlog of international students who applied during the COVID-19 pandemic but were not able to travel to Canada until 2022 or 2023. As a result, enrolment was at an unsustainable level for two fiscal years. The University recognized this and did not budget expenses at the base to match these temporary revenues, which causes a surplus in the Operating Fund. Please refer to the Operating Budget files for more information.
The audited financial statements are a consolidation of all the funds of the University, not just the operating fund. This includes the operating fund, the ancillary fund (parking, residence, food, etc.), the trust funds (spending from donor-funded accounts), the research fund (externally and internally funded research activities), and the capital fund (including repair and major capital projects). It also includes some expenses that are not budgeted as they are non-cash. Here are the expenses by fund for the year ended April 30, 2024 (actuals, net of internal charges):
|
Operating Fund expenditures |
$358 million |
|
Research Fund expenditures |
$35 million |
|
Trust Fund expenditures |
$15 million |
|
Ancillary Fund expenditures |
$6 million |
|
Capital Fund: repair projects not capitalized |
$6 million |
|
Amortization of Capital assets (non cash) |
$26 million |
|
Gain/Loss on Swaps (non cash) |
($3 million) |
|
Total expenses per Income Statement |
$443 million |
Reserves are monies that have been set aside over a period of several years by the Board of Governors and administration for strategic purposes. These are not able to be used to balance the operating budget in a permanent manner, as it is one-time money only. This means that the reserves can be used for one-time expenditures, such as a renovation of a student lounge space or a sessional teaching or co-op student contract but cannot be used to support base or permanent expenditures, such as full time faculty and staff. The Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) reviews the levels of University reserves annually and measures their health in accordance with financial health metrics.
Note 8 of the audited financial statements explains the breakdown of the University’s internally restricted net assets, also commonly referred to as reserves. The section titled “Unexpended operating funds” are reserves that have accumulated through the operating fund.