{"id":483939,"date":"2026-02-18T22:33:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T22:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/483939\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T22:33:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T22:33:09","slug":"how-students-weavers-respond-to-osap-shift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/483939\/","title":{"rendered":"How students, weavers respond to OSAP shift"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ontario Premier Doug Ford addresses the backlash over the province\u2019s decision to hike tuition fees and make cuts to OSAP grants. <\/p>\n

For members of the Toronto Guild of Spinners and Weavers, Ontario Premier Doug Ford\u2019s unprompted jab at \u201cbasket-weaving courses\u201d while he urged students to pursue \u201cjobs of the future,\u201d landed close to home.<\/p>\n

Ford singled out the profession during a media availability on Tuesday in which he said that \u201ca lot of students, (are) picking basket-weaving courses\u201d when \u201cthere are not too many baskets being sold out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The premier went on to suggest students go into health care, trades, and \u201cjobs of the future,\u201d including careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).<\/p>\n

The remarks came as he defended his government\u2019s decision to lift Ontario\u2019s tuition freeze and scale back grants under the OSAP program. <\/p>\n

He said that he hoped that by investing more in their education, students would perhaps be more \u201caccountable\u201d for their academic choices. <\/p>\n

But Miriam Kaufman, chair of the Toronto Guild of Spinners and Weavers and former professor at the University of Toronto, said the premier\u2019s framing missed the point of higher education.<\/p>\n

\"\"WEAVERS Weavers at the Toronto Guild of Spinners and Weavers (provided TDSB Learn4Life). <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat people go to university for is learning how to problem solve and think through things,\u201d she told CTV News Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany jobs need you to be able to take a broad look at something, pick it apart, think very abstractly. And that\u2019s one of the things that universities do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ford government announced last week that colleges and universities would be allowed to increase tuition by up to two per cent per year for the next three years, ending a freeze that had been in place since 2019.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the province said that it would reduce the proportion of grants available through OSAP from roughly 85 per cent of total funding to a maximum of 25 per cent starting this fall.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ford <\/p>\n

Kaufman said that she was \u201creally surprised\u201d by Ford\u2019s remarks taking aim at basket-weaving.<\/p>\n

She said that the comments made her feel as though Ford \u201cdoes not value education.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the arts, including basket weaving, involve a level of mathematics, planning, engineering,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re using natural materials, there\u2019s chemistry and physics involved in some of that, and biology, obviously. So there\u2019s a real interaction between the two. You\u2019re not going to waste your time learning fibre arts. You\u2019re not going to waste your time learning philosophy. You just won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

How much can you make in weaving? <\/p>\n

Kaufman said weaving can also be economically viable.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can make anywhere from nothing to $150,000 a year weaving or doing things that are related to weaving,\u201d she said, noting many people balance creative work with other careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never know what\u2019s going to be practical, and you never know what is going to guide your life into a totally different direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"weavers A person is seen in this undated photo weaving material for the Toronto Guild of Spinners and Weavers (provided by TDSB Learn4Life). Students \u2018feeling a little bit stuck\u2019<\/p>\n

Student leaders say the debate over programs is unfolding as financial pressure mounts.<\/p>\n

Omar Sayyed, vice president of finance for the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, said the organization supported the tuition freeze and \u201cwould have liked to see it in place for longer,\u201d but acknowledges the phased two-per-cent cap provides predictability.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn practical terms, (the two per cent increase) will look like about 47 cents a day for university students,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The larger concern, he said, are the changes to OSAP.<\/p>\n

\"\"Omar Sayyed Omar Sayyed, vice president of finance for the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (provided by Omar Sayyed). <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re definitely a lot more concerned about the changes to OSAP,\u201d Sayyed said.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Shifting the OSAP structure)\u2026 that risks increasing the debt burden on students at a time when students are navigating a cost of living crisis, coupled with the highest rate of youth unemployment since 2008.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted that before the latest changes, the average undergraduate student in Ontario was graduating with $28,600 in debt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re definitely hearing from current students that are kind of feeling a little bit stuck because they had planned their financial futures for one set of rules, and now they\u2019ve had it kind of flipped on them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Demand will change,\u2019: OUSA<\/p>\n

Sayyed also cautioned against steering students too narrowly toward so-called in-demand fields.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also important to recognize that the demand will change, and going into an in demand program now doesn\u2019t necessarily guarantee employment in five years or when that market or economy changes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe demands of the economy already are one of the many factors that students use to make decisions about their education. But it\u2019s not the only one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford, for his part, doubled down on his remarks during a media availability on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe taxpayers expect the students to go through courses that are going to drive economic growth\u2026 there\u2019s a lot of courses that don\u2019t drive economic growth. And God bless you. You do those courses, but don\u2019t expect the taxpayers to pay for it,” he said.<\/p>\n

For Kaufman, the stakes go beyond one remark.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf what Ford is saying is, we need lots of people to do work where they just do exactly what they\u2019re told and don\u2019t think… then he would be right in saying\u2026 do not fund people to go to university,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo what you feel passionate about, but know that might not be your day job.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ontario Premier Doug Ford addresses the backlash over the province\u2019s decision to hike tuition fees and make cuts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[712,43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-483939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}