Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Canadian universities reported record-high surplus revenues in wake of the pandemic as schools took advantage of last year's strong stock market performance.
According to a report from Statistics Canada published Tuesday, Canadian universities raked in $7.3 billion in surplus revenues during the 2020-2021 school year, the highest since StatCan began collecting data in 2000. Revenues increased by 12.8 per cent from the previous year to $46.3 billion while expenditures dropped by 3.8 per cent to $39.0 billion.
Much of the higher revenue can be attributed to the all-time high investment income thanks to strong stock performance in 2021. Universities earned a record-high $5.4 billion from investments in 2020-2021, compared to $44.3 million the previous year and an annual average of $1.4 billion in the previous five years.
These investment gains coincided with strong stock market performance in 2021. The S&P 500 finished off the year with a 27 per cent gain compared to the start of 2021.
"Collectively, universities demonstrated resilience by rapidly transitioning to virtual learning environments and performed better than projected, despite travel restrictions affecting international students, campus services being closed, and residences operating at lower capacity," the StatCan report said.
The record-high revenues occurred despite the fact that provincial funding has been on the decline over the last few years. Provincial funding made up 32.5 per cent of total university revenue in 2020-2021 compared to 36.7 per cent in the previous year.
In Quebec and N.L., provincial funding made up half of university revenue. But in Ontario, provincial funding only accounted for 21.4 per cent and has been declining from its peak of 42.1 per cent in 2008-2009.
On the other hand, rising tuition revenue has been able to make up for the shortfalls in provincial funding. Tuition revenue accounts for 28.8 per cent of total revenue in 2020-2021, compared to 21.5 per cent 10 years ago, especially as international tuition has continued to skyrocket.
In most provinces, international tuition is deregulated, meaning schools can charge foreign students as much as they'd like.
In 2020-2021, international undergraduate tuition rose 7.1 per cent to $32,019, compared to just $6,580 for domestic students. Some programs, such as engineering at the University of Toronto, exceeded $60,000 for international students -- and that's not including the ancillary fees.
And while provincial support has declined, support from the federal government rose that year, thanks to pandemic grant programs totalling $5.3 billion. Federal funding accounted for 11.4 per cent of university revenue, compared to 10.3 per cent the previous year.
Because of a lack of on-campus activities amid COVID-19 restrictions, universities also lost $1.5 billion or nearly half of the revenue from the sale and services of products, such as in cafeterias, gyms and residences.
Universities also reported a 3.8 per cent drop in expenditures, representing the largest decrease since StatCan began data collection. The largest drop was in Alberta, where universities cut expenditures by 10.8 per cent thanks to belt-tightening measures in response to cuts in provincial funding.
In the upcoming year, StatCan says it's unlikely that universities will report similarly high revenue, given the drop in the stock market since the beginning of this year. However, as on-campus activities continue to resume, StatCan says this may yield increases in revenue from tuition fees and ancillary services.
"The repercussions of the pandemic will continue to be felt in the year 2021/2022, and it might take years for universities to return to the pre-pandemic growth levels," the report said.
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.