Despite measures to rein in spending, Manitoba’s finance minister handed down a budget April 17 that maintains a 5 per cent increase in operating grants for universities and colleges, in the second year of a multi-year funding pledge.

The re-elected New Democrats had announced three years of increases in last year’s budget, citing a need for a stable fiscal environment. Tuition hikes are addressed in a cost of living formula issued last year as well.

William Paton, president of the Manitoba Organization of Faculty Associations, said the minimum tuition increase this year will be 1.5 per cent, as the government allows universities to increase tuition fees at the rate of inflation, and that there was “no information on new funding for new initiatives or building repairs.”

Although a program that allows graduates to claim tax rebates continues in budget 2012, the Canadian Federation of Students decried the measure as inadequate.

“Tax rebates and increases to loans programs miss the mark on where funding is most needed. If the government wants to help students, it should reduce tuition fees,” said Marakary Bayo, Manitoba chairperson of the federation.