Tuition fees for medical school have more than doubled in Ontario while remaining relatively stable in other provinces, although BC recently removed the legislative barrier on tuition fee increases. In their study of the effects of rising Ontario fees, Jeff Kwong and colleagues found there are fewer medical students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds in general in Canada, and Ontario medical students are expecting to graduate with bigger debts than students in other provinces and are far more worried about it.
Kwong and colleagues surveyed first and fourth-year students at Canadian medical schools outside Quebec in 2001 to determine the effects of increases between 1997 and 2000.
In Ontario the proportion of students with a family income of less than $40 000 declined, although this change did not differ significantly from that observed elsewhere. First-year Ontario students expected a higher debt load at graduation than did those in their final year, and the proportion expecting a debt load of more than $100 000 has doubled. First-year Ontario students are also more likely than fourth-year students to cite financial considerations as influencing their choice of specialty or practice location.
The authors warn that dramatic increases in tuition fees are creating a burden for Ontario medical students that is not (yet) being observed in other provinces.
p. 1023 Effects of rising tuition fees on medical school class composition and financial outlook
— J.C. Kwong et al
Journal
Canadian Medical Association Journal