Alberta bill would force universities to stay neutral

Alberta’s United Conservative government introduced a bill Tuesday that would require universities and other post-secondary institutions to remain neutral on political issues and would cap tuition increases at two per cent for 2027-28.

Bill 38, the Advanced Education Statutes Amendment Act, 2026, proposes changes to the Post-secondary Learning Act, CBC News reported.

Advanced Education Minister Myles McDougall said institutions would have to stay neutral, but individuals within them would not. “The underlying political reasons why things are happening and the position as to who’s right or wrong, et cetera, that is not the role of the institution to take,” he told a news conference at the legislature. Students, faculty and administrators remain free to express their opinions, he said.

The bill follows a case in which the University of Lethbridge cancelled a 2023 on-campus lecture by former Mount Royal University professor Frances Widdowson. A Court of King’s Bench justice ruled in September that the university was wrong to cancel the lecture.

The tuition cap would apply to Canadian students in 2027-28. McDougall would not say what will happen in later years. The bill also sets minimum standards for student codes of conduct, which will be spelled out in future regulations.

McDougall also announced that Alberta will stop counting parental income when assessing eligibility for student loans. He said the change would free up about $118 million in additional loans within the existing student loan budget.

The neutrality requirement follows a 2025 expert panel chaired by economist Jack Mintz, which made 11 recommendations for the province’s universities, colleges and polytechnics. It recommended that all public post-secondary institutions be required to stay neutral and protect freedom of expression, and that the province update its funding model to reflect enrolment, performance and base funding.

NDP advanced education critic David Eggen said the minister picked a few parts of the Mintz report without addressing funding. He said many students are struggling with tuition and the cost of living, and that the bill looks for “diversions around culture wars.”

Rylee Mae, chair of the Alberta Students’ Executive Council and a University of Lethbridge student, said the uncertainty after 2027-28 is a concern. “A tuition ceiling still needs safeguards on how quickly tuition can rise,” she said.

It is the latest bill from the government touching public institutions. We reported earlier on a separate Alberta bill that would ban diversity, equity and inclusion considerations in public hiring.

Source: CBC News.

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