The Ontario Government, headed by Doug Ford, has threatened to take away the salaries of senior university professors, amongst other proposals outlined in its April budget.
Federal law dictates that anybody over the age of 71 must take their pension, however, Ford’s new proposals would prevent academics from collecting a salary and a pension at the same time. Ontario Professors that continued to work past 71 would resultantly be left working for no salary.
Ontario Professors that continued to work past 71 would be left working for no salary
Defending the policy, the government has suggested that these measures would rejuvenate educational institutions by encouraging fresh recruitment. According to statistics from 2016-17, more than 10% of Ontario’s university professors were over the age of 65, however, just 4% were over the age of 70, equating to roughly 600 professors.