Ontario’s Bill 33, Supporting Children and Students Act, 2025, received Royal Assent on Nov. 20, creating a set of postsecondary law changes that will take effect only if and when the government proclaims Schedule 3. The schedule would require publicly assisted universities and colleges to publish admission criteria and access applicants on merit, authorize new regulations on admissions and student fees and require institutions to develop research security plans subject to ministerial directives.
For university students, the portion to look out for is Schedule 3, which amends Ontario’s Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act and creates new requirements, enforcing new regulation-making powers affecting publicly assisted Universities and Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology.
Schedule 3 of the ascended Bill is set to come into force when triggered by a separate government order, rather than being automatically fixed by the statute text.
Schedule 3 adds a new section (16.0.2) that requires each covered institution — for every program of study — to assess applicants for admission based on “the merit of the individual applicant,” while also publishing the criteria and process that the institution will use to assess applicants.
The same section gives the Lieutenant Governor in Council authority to make regulations governing the criteria and process used for admissions — including regulations specifying criteria that must be or may not be considered in assessing an applicant’s merit — specifying what information must be published and how, while creating exceptions to the merit-based requirement.
Schedule 3 also adds a new research security section (20.1) requiring every covered institution to develop and implement a research security plan “to safeguard and mitigate the risk of harm to or interference with” its research activities.
This section authorizes the minister to issue directives to one or more institutions that set deadlines for developing and implementing the plan, deadlines and requirements for providing and updating the plan and topics or elements that must be included.
The research security section also requires institutions to provide the minister with a copy of the plan and any other information or reports that the minister requests in respect of research security.
The statute text further states that Part III (Regulations) of the Legislation Act, 2006 does not apply to a directive issued under the research security section.
A third set of provisions in Schedule 3 adds a new fees regulation power, Section 21.1, allowing the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations governing “any fees” a covered institution charges to students or requires students to pay.
The fee power explicitly includes fees charged on behalf of, or for the purposes of, another entity.
The same section lists examples of what regulations may do, including specifying which fees may or may not be charged — including fees that may only be charged if refundable at a student’s request — requiring public posting of prescribed fee information and governing how fees are charged or refunded.
Additionally, Schedule 3 adds a conflict clause, Section 24, stating that if a provision in the Act or in a regulation made under it conflicts with another act or regulation, this Act or its regulation prevails to the extent of the conflict, with an exception for regulations made under Section 18.
In a Dec. 3 report, University Affairs said that the government’s rationale for the postsecondary provisions is that Ontario students “deserve to know where their fees are going, what criteria they need for admission and how their research will be protected,” citing an emailed response from a press secretary to the minister responsible for the postsecondary file.
That same University Affairs report described the new law’s postsecondary elements as controversial, pointing to the merit-based admissions requirement and the government’s new authority to regulate student fees.
Postsecondary institutions and student organizations have criticized Schedule 3 on autonomy and service impacts, having urged for changes before it is implemented.
In a June 27 submission, the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) wrote that it urged the provincial government to “reconsider the scope and proclamation of Schedule 3,” arguing that the schedule risks undermining institutional autonomy, eroding student services and duplicating existing accountability structures. They stated that their members oppose, in principle, the proposed regulatory powers governing ancillary fees and admissions.
The COU submission also argued that the research security plan requirement would duplicate existing efforts and add red tape to the existing process. They recommended aligning any provincial research security proposals with federal requirements and sector-led best practices.
Student unions have focused much of their concern on the fees regulation authority in Section 21.1 and on the legislative process used to pass the bill.
In a Nov. 19 statement, the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association said Section 21.1 could change how student associations are allowed to collect fees, which according to them, would threaten services funded through student fees and student-led governance processes.
In a Nov. 28 statement, the Sheridan Student Union said that Bill 33 could change how student fees are regulated and collected while raising concerns about student autonomy and student-driven services. They also criticized the decision not to bring the legislation to committee.
If implemented as written, the “any fees” authority of Schedule 3 — which includes fees charged for the purposes of another entity — is the mechanism that student unions say could affect student-funded services by changing which fees may be charged, whether they can be made refundable at a student’s request and how fees are charged or refunded.
For Ontario university students, the immediate practical effects of Schedule 3 depend on when it is brought into force by order and how regulations and directives are written and applied, because the statute itself anticipates further rule making through regulations on admissions and fees, and directives on research security plans.