November 13, 2024
This message is sent on behalf of Dilson Rassier, provost and vice-president, academic to all faculty and staff.
As we near the mid-point of our 2025-26 budget development cycle, I’m writing to share an update on current budget discussions and to share an invitation to the upcoming budget information session.
The SFU community continues to collaborate to reduce expenses and find efficiencies. As shared at the October town hall for faculty and staff, we are making good progress towards a balanced budget. Factors that impacted our budget last year, such as pension costs and divestment from fossil fuels, are not expected to negatively impact this year’s budget. However, international undergraduate enrolment is expected to trend downwards for several years, which will continue to have consequences on our budget in the years to come.
Getting ready for 2025-26
Like most post-secondary institutions across Canada, SFU is facing financial challenges due to increasing operating costs and declining revenue. New government restrictions on international undergraduate and graduate students, delays in visa applications and limitations on spousal visas are contributing to lower future international tuition forecasts. With these factors in mind, we anticipate that our budgets will remain very tight over the next few years.
SFU is an organization that is striving toward financial sustainability. Over the summer, SFU leadership, the Budget Office and financial administrators across the university reviewed the annual report, 2024-25 budget, commitments and priorities outlined in What’s Next: The SFU Strategy, the draft Academic Plan, Research Strategic Plan and more, to determine key priorities for the upcoming budget. In the fall, we held budget meetings and consultation sessions with key groups. We are grateful to all who participated in these initial conversations to help guide early budget decisions.
Next steps
As departments and units across the university move through the process of finalizing their budget projections, we are currently in the process to plan SFU’s overall 2025-26 budget. Faculty and staff are invited to join our budget info session on November 18 to learn more about SFU’s budget process for 2025-26. This session is intended to support the SFU community to understand and engage in meaningful discussions with their leaders and teams as budgets are developed.
Date: November 18, 2024
Time: 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Format: Zoom
Learn more about SFU’s budget:
- 2024-25 Budget: Key facts about the current fiscal year
- 2025-26 Budget: Current development cycle for next year’s budget
- Budget FAQ
Thank you for your support of this important budget process.
Sincerely,
Dilson Rassier
Provost and Vice-President Academic
Chief Budget Officer