Memorial University tackles financial shortfall

Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) has announced a restructuring of its executive leadership team and the intention to sell multiple properties, as the university tries to address a shortfall of approximately $25 million. The changes are just two of several that are expected in the year ahead, as the university also contends with an upcoming tuition-fee freeze. 

In late January, MUN announced it will begin selling multiple properties in St. John’s that are “not closely aligned with its academic mission,” as well as its Harlow Campus in the United Kingdom. The announcement came just two weeks after the university announced executive restructuring, which saw it reduce the number of vice-presidents from seven to three.  

These steps are part of a “multi-phased approach to reduce annual spending,” said a university spokesperson in a written statement. “Memorial University is facing significant financial challenges due to declining enrolment, constrained budgets, inflationary pressures and the broader forces of social, technological and economic disruption that are impacting higher education across Canada.”  

No tuition hikes in 2026  

The same day MUN announced its executive restructuring, Newfoundland’s new Conservative government stated that it would fulfill an election promise to institute a tuition freeze for the province. Paul Dinn, minister of education and early childhood development, said in a statement to University Affairs, “as part of our mandate, we will not allow Memorial University to balance its books on the backs of students. This includes ensuring that the university does not increase tuition until we have confidence it is addressing its financial challenges.”  

There have been few details released about the tuition freeze, except that it will be in effect as of fall 2026. More details are expected when the government tables its 2026 budget. 

The Canadian Federation of Students Newfoundland and Labrador (CFS-NL), which has been pushing for a reinstatement of the tuition fee freeze since it ended in 2022 under the previous Liberal government, welcomed the news, while recognizing that the freeze could add to MUN’s financial challenges. “If we don’t increase funding to MUN as well as have a tuition freeze, we’re going to end up balancing it on the backs of students at the end of the day,” saidNicolas Keough, chair of CFS-NL, noting the potential for program cuts, larger class sizes, fewer first-year labs, unaddressed infrastructure issues and reduced support services.  

Faculty association expresses concern 

The recent announcements are only the latest in a series of measures that MUN has taken over the past year in an effort to put its books in order. In May 2025, the university announced it would need to cut $20.85 million from its operating budget. In July 2025, it announced the closure of a research centre and its St. John’s-based office of public engagement, as well as the elimination of 20 positions and the continuation of a limited hiring program. Adding further to the university’s financial challenges, in fall 2025, MUN saw a 4.6 percent decrease in enrollment compared to fall 2024, including a 23.5 per cent decrease in international student enrollment, reducing tuition revenue by $5 million.  

Lisa Moores, president of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty Association (MUNFA), said members are primarily concerned about what the changes may mean for the core academic mandate of the university. “We’re quite concerned and committed to advocating for Memorial continuing as a comprehensive university. We’re the only public university in the province. We have to span a lot of different roles,” she said. “There are a lot of difficult things to figure out, but at the end of the day, it comes down to really prioritizing, wanting to provide the people of this province with the kind of opportunity and potential that folks in other provinces have.” 

MUNFA would like to see the restructuring “also include a careful consideration of ways that we can strengthen shared governance” to have more representation of the university community’s stakeholders in the decision-making process, Dr. Moores said. “People are seeing movement, things are happening, and information is being announced,” but it’s not clear “what the bigger picture is exactly, what the intentions are or what things are going to look like,” she said. “Right now, in general, I’d say there are a lot of questions.”  

University shedding non-core assets 

The common element across all the decisions made by MUN “is to carefully contract our university in a way that sharpens the focus on our core academic mission,” the university said in a statement. “By reducing investment in non-core assets, we can further protect academic delivery, better maintain our infrastructure and ensure we remain well-positioned to support Memorial’s current and future learners.”  

At the time of the restructuring announcement, Janet Morrison, president and vice-chancellor of MUN said: “Today was a really hard day and there’s going to be more difficult days ahead.” How those days will look isn’t entirely clear. In addition to the tuition freeze, the provincial government has also expressed a commitment to aligning the province’s post-secondary system with labour market needs. Mr. Dinn said that the government “will work with post-secondary institutions to achieve this.”