Laurentian University did not seek comprehensive help from the government as its financial situation worsened, Ontario Auditor-General Bonnie Lysyk says
Laurentian University made a strategic decision to opt for creditor protection rather than work with the Ontario government to right its finances, the province’s Auditor-General says in a preliminary report, leading to nearly 200 job losses, millions in added costs and damage to the postsecondary institution’s reputation.
Laurentian became the first publicly-funded Canadian university to file for CCAA protection in February, 2021, a decision that unleashed a contentious process that eliminated a third of the university’s academic programs. The university also terminated 195 faculty and staff, including dozens of tenured professors. More than 900 students had their course plans disrupted as classes and programs disappeared.
The idea of using the CCAA to address Laurentian’s financial problems was first raised by an external law firm that was working with university administrators in 2019. Laurentian appears to have decided to pursue this path in the Spring of 2020, the report says.
The university claimed initially that its difficulties stemmed in part from the costs of paying its faculty, but the report says that was not the case. Administrative costs, which grew 75 per cent in the last decade, were higher than at comparable schools while faculty costs were similar, the report concludes.
The Canadian Association of University Teachers called the report a damning indictment of Laurentian’s administration and demanded the resignation of president Robert Haché and other senior administrators.
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