The University will get $15.9 million in 2025–26 as part of Ontario’s $750 million broader investment aimed to STEM-based Ontario sectors and education.
Queen’s plans on using their share of the investment towards “funding existing enrolment in STEM field,” the University reported in a Queen’s Gazette article. In a statement to The Journal, Queen’s outlined how it plans to allocate the funding for STEM programs, amid a projected $26.4 million deficit combined with growing concerns regarding the future of arts education on campus.
According to a statement to The Journal, the University confirmed that the funding will an enrolment redistribution plan, previously approved by Senate. Starting in the 2026–27 academic year, 1,200 undergraduate enrolment spaces will shift from the Faculty of Arts and Science’s Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Arts Honours (BAH) programs to professional and STEM-based programs across the University over four years.
“Given the timing, the funding wasn’t incorporated into the initial 2025–26 budget planning process. As a result, the specific application of the funding and the impact on the current budget are still being determined,” the University stated.
While the funding highlights Ontario’s STEM priorities, Queen’s stressed it won’t sideline the humanities or social sciences in the process.
“While this investment reflects a growing emphasis on STEM education, Queen’s remains committed to the humanities and social sciences,” the University told The Journal. “These disciplines continue to play a vital role in fostering critical thinking, creativity, and empathy—skills that are essential across all fields and closely tied to the advancement of STEM.”
Still, the reallocation has sparked concern among students in the arts.
“I want to believe that the arts still matter here,” said Carys Newman, ArtSci ’26, in an interview with The Journal. “But it’s getting harder and harder to feel that way when all new funding and attention seem to keep going in the same direction. It’s difficult not to feel like STEM is being propped up at the expense of everything else.”
The STEM investment will be istered through the province’s five-year Strategic Mandate Agreements, which detail the funding and that Ontario provides for its publicly assisted universities and colleges.
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