Memorial University has an operating budget of $467.6 million for 2025-26. The operating budget includes revenues, salaries and benefits, and operating expenditures.   

Memorial has been facing budget cuts for a number of years. The university’s expenses are higher than its revenues, which is not sustainable. Memorial’s operating budget will need to be significantly reduced to create a competitive university that serves our students.   

The university is also facing changes to its student population. International students are no longer seeing Canada as a viable country for their studies due to federal government policy changes, a decrease in the province’s school age population and an increasingly competitive Canadian university environment.     

The university has also been the subject of auditor general reports and internal audit reports, that indicate the university must work differently.    

It is within this context that the university’s leadership team looked to the provincial government’s April 9 allocation for Memorial’s 2025-26 year. The team has since clarified details around the university’s operating grant, which comes from the Department of Education.   

Some highlights are below.     

Deferred maintenance   

• Government announced support to the university of $70 million over eight years for deferred maintenance projects. This means annual funding of $8.7 million. This was not an increase in the annual provincial grant to the university but a redirection of the annual Core Science Facility mortgage payment, which goes to the government, to the deferred maintenance program.   

 On March 31, 2025, the outstanding loan for the Core Science Facility was approximately $162 million. The university is awaiting official notification on the details of the eight-year pause on the mortgage payments.   

• Government also committed $7.8 million for the Campus Renewal Fee meaning that, once again, it will not be charged to students. It is a one-year commitment.   

 At the March 6, 2025, Board of Regents meeting, the newly created Campus Renewal Fee Committee received approval to proceed with the 2025-26 physical and digital infrastructure projects totalling $7.7 million, once funding was received. Work has now begun on these projects.    

Tuition Offset Grant/operating grant reduction

• In 2021-22, the provincial government announced that a $68.4 million annual operating grant would be phased out over five years, starting in 2022-23 with an annual reduction of $13.68 million. For 2025-26, the university anticipated a $13.68 million permanent reduction. The university advocated for relief from this cut; the government paused the $13.68 million grant reduction for 2025-26.   

 It is a one-time reprieve from the reduction. The university is anticipating the next two fiscal years to include a $13.68-million grant reduction per year. Given this is a one-year pause, rather than a forgiveness, care must be taken to invest the money in pressing priorities that will help Memorial become more sustainable.   

Recommitments

Recommitment of $4.7 million for the Faculty of Nursing’s satellite sites.

• $2 million of continued support for the Faculty of Science Doctor of Psychology Program.  

Collective agreement increases   

  Memorial will receive $2.9 million for negotiated collective agreement increases for MUNFA.   

• $4 million for negotiated collective agreement increases for CUPE, NAPE, non-bargaining, and management and professional staff.   

 Operating budget cut  

• In 2021, government announced general grant reductions for Memorial. It is the last year of this general reduction, which amounts to $1.07 million.  

Direct student support   

• $240,000 in grants for new Faculty of Education students.  

 Funding for the Faculty of Medicine comes from the Department of Health and Community Services and for 2025-26 will be more than $78 million. It includes the annual operating grant as well as $7 million for more undergraduate seats, clerkships and expansion of the internal medicine program. 

National challenges

While the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador 2025 budget included some investments in Memorial University, those investments do not address all of its budgetary shortfalls.   

Memorial is facing a decline in applications and enrolment as a result of changes to federal government policy related to international students, demographic pressures and inflation.   

Universities across Canada are facing a perfect storm and are being challenged in ways they have not been before.   

Recently, Memorial took action to help address these challenges, including a limited hiring program, a restriction on the use of carryover funds and further development of a new budget model.   

Visit the Budget website for more information on recent budget decisions. 

Moving forward

Strategic action is required to ensure Memorial will thrive in a world with significant economic, political and societal changes.     

It will entail restructuring and cost-cutting as well as revenue generation and investment to ensure the academic mission of the institution is maintained and supported as efficiently as possible.     

Investments in recruitment and retention, technology and changes to processes that will allow the university to be more responsive in an uncertain environment are essential.    

Above all, Memorial must ensure the university meets the needs of students, and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, in a financially sustainable manner now and into the future.    

A balanced budget will be provided to the Board of Regents, which is responsible for Memorial’s budget and how it is allocated to units, for its May meeting.   
 
The leadership team is very proud that Memorial remains one of the most affordable universities in Atlantic Canada and offers outstanding programs and experiences. And we are proud of our outstanding faculty and staff who consistently demonstrate their passion for, and dedication to, our students and to Memorial.  

We look forward to working together to create a future Memorial University that is positive, innovative and forward-focused.   

Additional resources  

Additional frequently asked questions have been added to the Budget website.  

For more information on Memorial’s operating budget, please visit our accountability and transparency website.  

 For more information about how our administrative costs compare to other universities, please visit our response to the 2023 auditor general’s report.