BUSINESS

Undergrad tuition up five per cent this academic year, more than triple inflation

The Canadian Press Published Wednesday, September 12, 2012 10:10AM EDT

Ontario, tuition, costs, University of Toronto

Students protest Ontario tuition costs at the University of Toronto campus in Toronto on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012. (Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press)

Text:

OTTAWA - Statistics Canada says tuition fees for full-time students in undergraduate programs are five per cent higher for the academic year starting this fall than they were last year.

That comes on top of a 4.3 per cent increase for the 2011-2012 school year.

In comparison, inflation was 1.3 per cent between July 2011 and July 2012.

The agency says the average tuition bill this year is $5,581, compared with $5,313 a year earlier.

Tuition fees rose in every province except Newfoundland and Labrador, where they have been frozen since 2003-2004.

Undergrads in Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec continued to have the lowest average fees, while Ontario students paid the highest tuition in the country.