The university's overall consolidated budget is $864 million for 2023-24. A significant portion of the budget ($179 million) is ‘restricted’ funding from government agencies, donors or companies. These ‘restricted’ funds can only be spent on specific activities, such as research, student support, endowments, and capital renewal projects.

Outside of the restricted funds, the university's operating budget is $642 million for 2023-24. This funding provides for student support (undergraduate and graduate scholarships and bursaries), student services, academic program delivery, and the university's day-to-day operating and administrative costs, including IT, utilities, maintenance, and janitorial services.   

SFU faces a financial shortfall in the 2023/24 fiscal year due to lower international enrollment and increased cost pressures. We expect that these enrollment trends and the effects of inflation will continue, and SFU's budget will remain tight over the next few years.   

In response, SFU has been actively promoting cost-saving and efficiency initiatives among staff and faculty members. We also continue to explore new revenue opportunities, find efficiencies, and strategically allocate resources to ensure our institution's long-term financial stability and growth.  
 
The university remains committed to advancing its academic mission and achieving the key initiatives outlined in "What's Next: The SFU Strategy." This includes supporting student housing, grad student scholarships, reconciliation and becoming a living wage employer.

As we navigate these challenging times, we will ask faculty and staff to continue making smart financial decisions, reduce spending where possible, and explore opportunities for operational efficiencies, cross-institutional collaboration, and revenue generation.   

Operating funding is almost entirely provided by government operating grants (44 per cent) and tuition and student fees (51 per cent), as well as other unrestricted revenues (5 per cent).

Most of the operating expense budget (74 percent) goes toward compensation for the university's faculty, staff, and students. The remainder of the budget (26 percent) is allocated to supplies and various expenses such as student support (including undergraduate and graduate scholarships, awards and bursaries), improving IT infrastructure, maintaining facilities, renewal and acquisition of the library's collection, among other initiatives.  

• Fiscal Year End & Outlook Updated: Financial results from the previous year are reported, and the financial projections for the next year are updated.
• Campus conversations: Meetings regarding budgets and priorities are held, student feedback is gathered on fees and priorities, and options are considered.
• Development: Priorities are established and resources are designated. Detailed budgets are developed for departments across the university, reviewed and approved by those with fiscal responsibility for the areas (such as Chairs, Directors, Deans and VPs).
• Review and Approval: Budgets are collected, reviewed and then sent to SFU’s Board of Governors for approval. 
  

Starting this year, the Budget Office will have a dual reporting structure, reporting to both the Provost and Vice President, Academic, and the Vice-President, Finance and Administration. This transition to shared responsibility for the university budget and budget process will ensure that financial and operational decisions at SFU are made through an academic lens.  

The budget process is a collaboration between the Office of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic, the Office of the Vice-President, Finance and Administration and supporting administrative units. SFU follows a decentralized budget model, meaning that the faculties and supporting units are responsible for ensuring they have a balanced budget within their portfolio.  

SFU actively engages with key internal groups during the annual planning cycle (September – October) and provides information sessions for the upcoming budget cycle for faculty and staff. These information sessions allow teams to engage more fully with the budget leads within their portfolios who develop their team’s budgets. The budget allocations are finalized in November.

The primary aim of the process is ensuring the long-term financial sustainability of SFU, prioritizing the academic mission, student experience and financial support, and the university’s ability to deliver on the priorities outlined in the SFU What’s Next strategy.

The budget is informed by critical economic and political factors, risk assessments, and the University Act of Canada. Global conflicts, shortfalls in international enrollments and increased inflation present key challenges for SFU as it plans for 2024/25.  

SFU continues to provide outstanding student experience and support for students in need. For every $1 in tuition fees collected, roughly 75 cents go to the academic mission (teaching, research, and student support), and 25 cents to provide educational facilities and services (heat, electricity, etc.).

We actively seek opportunities to address student affordability challenges and minimize increases to tuition fees. Finding cost savings for students continues to be a priority for this budget. 

A student affordability committee comprised of eight members of the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) and Graduate Student Society (GSS) (in addition to four university administrative staff) meets twice a year to explore solutions on various affordability-related topics such as food security, housing, access to affordable transit, access to course materials, etc.

SFU is addressing students' financial challenges by increasing the 2023/24 budget for scholarships, bursaries, and awards by $1.3 million. 

Out of a total budget of 49.2 million, the university’s operating budget provides support of $29.9M, and external funding provides the remaining $19.3 million.  Below is an overview:

• Scholarships, bursaries, and awards – administered by AVPSI and funded with operating dollars are $16.8 million.
• Scholarships, bursaries, and awards – administered by Graduate Studies and funded with operating dollars are $12 million.
• Budgeted by other areas and funded with operating dollars is the balance of the $29.9 million.
• The remaining balance of $19.3 million in financial support is funded through endowments and external grants (i.e. Specific purpose), etc.
• Also, the additional $2.5 million graduate student funding – Board of Governors approved - for graduate student scholarship funding in 2023/24 was provided to PhD students who were within the first 12 terms of their program.

Students with demonstrated financial need are encouraged to apply for the general SFU bursary program each term. Please refer to student services for details on the application process and key dates.

Over 800+ scholarships, awards, and bursaries can be found in our financial aid database.

You can easily search which of SFU’s financial aid funding opportunities you may qualify for by narrowing down your search using different criteria:

• Undergraduate or Graduate
• Type of assistance
• Faculty
• Term of study
• Citizenship status
• Recipient (e.g., Indigenous, mature students, etc.)

SFU does not receive provincial support for international students, so the total costs of delivering these programs and services are reflected in the tuition fees. Many factors are considered when setting fees, including student affordability, how it influences students' choices, what programs SFU hopes to grow, comparative fees at other institutions, and institutional and individual inflation pressures.

SFU supports international students through bursaries and is one of the few Canadian schools to do so. Moreover, our graduate programs don't have differential fees for international students except in a few instances.

SFU assesses its tuition fees based on the number of units students enrol in. We're committed to maintaining an accessible, equitable education for all students, regardless of their province of origin.

Audited financial statements are a snapshot taken at the end of the fiscal year. The budget surplus accounts for unspent funds and does not consider the timing differences associated with inflows and outflows for commitments.

It's important to note that funds are often given to SFU for specific purposes. The 'surplus' funds related to these committed project expenses often relate to timing and delays in the project.

It's also important to know that surplus funds can only be used once and cannot be used for annual ongoing expenses like salaries, as there needs to be a guarantee that funds required for salaries are available year-to-year.

The budget for the current and future year will be tight. As previously shared with leadership, there is a shortfall in international enrolments, and tuition increases are limited. The university anticipates targeted budget reductions in order to deliver a balanced budget.

Operational budget surpluses are usually due to timing differences and often committed for specific and expected purposes. If an operating unit has a surplus, they may allocate some of it for internal research projects, specific projects, or buying assets. When creating the annual budget, the university considers the available surplus funds, with the aim of using the resources effectively to support the university’s goals and priorities.

It's important to note that the university does not contribute to endowments. Endowments are funded by donations and are restricted for specific purposes as determined by the donors. 

The university holds $62.8 million in reserves, representing around 7% of the total revenues. This reserve is not considered a separate contingency fund. The funds in the reserves are those committed to research projects and expected payments to be paid upon completion of projects that were not concluded prior to the end of the fiscal year. A healthy reserve fund is best practice and essential to ensure the university's operations remain stable in the face of financial uncertainties and for fulfilling long-term obligations.

As the university deals with increasing costs, its reserves have declined in recent years. Some of these reserves are expected to be utilized to address budgetary challenges in various areas during the current year.

The reserves are held by different units and are assigned to different projects. The departmental reserves are evaluated annually, and the commitments against these reserves are taken into consideration during the budget planning process.  

With lower enrollments and rising costs, we expect the next few years to be about budget restraint. We must collaborate across all the university departments and contribute to cost-saving measures, as SFU is required to end the fiscal year with a balanced budget. We will continue to focus on making smart financial decisions, exploring cost-saving opportunities, finding efficiencies and strategically allocating resources to ensure our institution's long-term financial stability and growth.

SFU is also committed to the benchmarking program (UniForum@SFU) that compares our administrative costs to similar institutions in Canada and internationally. Now in its fourth year, this program supports resource shifting rather than resource elimination to drive improvement and reduce spending.