Who exactly is Nolan Quinn?

Ontario’s postsecondary system got a new provincial minister – and a rookie Conservative member of provincial parliament got his first cabinet post – when Nolan Quinn was named minister of colleges and universities in mid-August.

“I am deeply honoured and grateful to Premier [Doug] Ford on my appointment as Minister of Colleges and Universities,” Mr. Quinn wrote on social media following an Aug. 16 cabinet shuffle. “I’m excited to work with our post-secondary partners to support the next generation of leaders and connect students to rewarding careers to help build Ontario’s skilled workforce.”

 

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Mr. Quinn, 41, was first elected in the June 2022 provincial election to represent the riding of Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry in eastern Ontario. He served in two separate parliamentary assistant roles before being appointed associate minister of forestry through a June 2024 cabinet shuffle.

He replaces Jill Dunlop as minister of colleges and universities, who is now the education minister, following the surprise resignation of Todd Smith.

A business management graduate of St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ont., Mr. Quinn spent 15 years as a business owner prior to his election, running his Dairy Queen franchise in Cornwall, Ont. where he grew up, according to his online profile. He has three young children and is married to a public school teacher.

He has wasted little time getting to know members of the sector, meeting several times with members of the Council of Ontario Universities, including in September with all Ontario university presidents.

“He’s been very approachable,” said Steve Orsini, the COU’s president and CEO. “He’s reaching out to and visiting colleges and university campuses. So I see him as someone that’s really focused on understanding and working with the sector.”

However, the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations had yet to hear anything back from Mr. Quinn’s office after repeated invitations to meet with him.

“The biggest problem that Ontario’s facing is that we are routinely ranked last or near-last in important metrics when it comes to university funding,” said Nigmendra Narain, OCUFA’s president, adding that investment is also low in research. OCUFA recommended prior to the last provincial budget in March that Ontario increase university funding by 11.75 per cent annually for the next five years.

The province’s low status on per student funding was also noted in a government-commissioned “blue ribbon” panel report that followed several auditor general investigations into financial management at Ontario colleges and universities.

The November 2023 blue-ribbon report called for an initial 10 per cent increase in provincial grants followed by annual two per cent increases at a minimum, for the next three to five years. It also recommended dropping a tuition freeze that’s been in effect since 2019, allowing domestic tuition to rise by five per cent this fall with cost-of-living increases after that. The Ford government opted instead to give a one-time extra $1.3 billion over three years to colleges and universities while keeping the tuition freeze until at least 2027.

Ontario postsecondary institutions are also battling headwinds as the province with the highest population of international students. Their numbers are being significantly cut through targeted federal immigration measures. And there’s increasing upward pressure for Ontario to raise caps on the number of domestic student places it funds. Domestic demand is on the upswing until at least 2028, the blue-ribbon panel report said, and an extra 119,000 places will be needed by 2047. COU also issued an August report showing a 12 per cent increase in applications from Ontario high school students since 2020, from 79,364 to 89,011 this year.

Getting to know the sector and understanding issues quickly will be important for the new minister, said Mr. Orsini, given that negotiations begin in October for the next round of multi-year performance-based funding agreements, known as SMAs (strategic mandate agreements), made with each publicly funded Ontario college and university.

“We’re at a critical juncture right now,” Mr. Orsini said, adding that this is the time for his organization to work with the new minister and his government to “set a foundation” so that universities can play their part delivering the education and research to support students and Ontario’s economy.

Mr. Quinn’s office did not respond to University Affairs’ questions about the new minister’s plans and priorities before publication deadline.