Update on Provincial Priorities Act

We have good news to share regarding the provincial government’s Provincial Priorities Act (PPA) (formerly Bill 18) and how it will apply to federal funding for the post-secondary sector. After consultation with Mount Royal University and post-secondaries across the province, the Ministry of Advanced Education has informed us that when the PPA comes into effect on April 1, the following will be exempted for the post-secondary sector:

• agreements that are primarily purposed for research;
• agreements that support programming such as student employment, work experience, official languages, non-instructional events, and instructional programming;
• fee-for-service contracts, short-term facility leases, and rental agreements; and
• agreements with Banff Centre

Federal funding agreements under $100,000 and minor amendments and extensions are also exempt. We will await further details about the regulations and reporting requirements.

We are grateful to Advanced Education Minister Rajan Sawhney for hearing and responding to our feedback in the development of the regulations. I would also like to thank the many colleagues at MRU who contributed to our feedback and consultation with the Ministry.

Tim Rahilly, President and Vice-Chancellor