• Unstable Funding due to Limitations of College and Institute Base Funding from Provincial/Territorial Governments

One of the biggest challenges facing institutions is finding stable and sustainable funding to deliver Aboriginal programs and services. Although institutions are trying to use more base funds for aboriginal-specific programs, this is challenging as the budget is limited and it means that another program or service that is currently base funded will no longer be so. Some provincial and territorial examples help to further explain these issues:

• In Ontario, current funding structures through the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities do not provide for a separate Aboriginal Full-time Equivalent (FTE) and the current FTE Production Model pressures institutions to increase class sizes and cancel programs that do not fill quickly. This has serious consequences for the delivery of Aboriginal programming. The current FTE production model also reduces the focus on Aboriginal-specific student services which do not directly affect FTE generation. Aboriginal Education Programming can often only be offered in partnership with Aboriginal agencies, corporate partners, and/or AHRDA funding. These funding arrangements are very complex and it can be very challenging to put programming in place in a timely and sustainable manner.
  
  In addition, Sault College pointed out that current funding formulas for Ontario colleges and institutes are not adequate. There is more dependence on the funds from the Aboriginal Education and Training Strategy to off-set costs which were previously covered through operational dollars. There are no opportunities to access additional funding to move forward with new initiatives and the current under-funding of the system creates a further barrier to moving forward.
• In Quebec, cégeps are funded based on the number of first and second semester students registered. As such, John Abbott College pointed out that with this unstable funding approach the college may not have sufficient funds to cover expenses for the Aboriginal Student Resource Centre. The continuity of services is at risk due to semester to semester funding.
• Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies is faced with the challenge of trying to find its place between provincial and federal government funding structures. The province does not provide SIIT base funding because it is considered to be under federal responsibility.
• Nunavut Arctic College underwent an external review which found that the college does not have enough funding to deliver core programs. However the Nunavut Department of Education has no additional funding available and has concluded that the college will simply have to spend the available funds smarter. Because of the financial crisis, the college is being encouraged to get more federal funding or be more proactive in tapping into philanthropic foundations and organizations, however this type of funding is project-based and not for core programs and services. There is a sense that the college does not have sufficient funds to improve and move forward, and may have to realign current base funding and cut programs. This leaves the college in a difficult situation for in the past, when base funding was realigned funding to deliver credit programs at the community level was lost and the college faced criticism for not doing enough at the community level. The external review report also mentioned that the college is not spending enough on program development and curriculum services, but it is not clear where the funds for this work is to be drawn.