REGINA – The province has announced that Ukrainian post-secondary students in Saskatchewan will keep on receiving tuition relief from the Government of Saskatchewan to March 31 2030.
At an announcement at the Legislature, Minister of Advanced Education Ken Cheveldayoff confirmed the extension of the tuition relief program to that date. According to the province, this allows those who arrived under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel program to keep on paying the same lower domestic tuition rates that residents of Saskatchewan do, instead of paying the higher international student rates at post-secondary institutions in the province.
Typically Ukrainians who came to Canada under the federally regulated CUAET program are considered international students, and must pay higher tuition rates when applying to post-secondary programs across the country. Saskatchewan is the only province in the country offering the tuition relief at the domestic rate.
The program has been in place since 2023 with the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, but the existing tuition relief program was set to expire in 2026.
“We knew some deadlines were coming in 2026,” Cheveldayoff said. “We knew at the end of the day we would be there to support them any way we could.”
The discussion had been about how long the extension would be, but ultimately decided on a four year extension.
Cheveldayoff said this extension “reflects our commitment to ensure those who arrive here under difficult circumstances have every opportunity to continue their education and their lives in Saskatchewan,” said Cheveldayoff.
He said there have been “incredible results” since the program launched in 2023, with at least 38 students able to pursue programs.
Cheveldayoff said the extension will help Ukrainian learners access education with “greater predictability and reduced financial pressure.”
According to the province’s news release, those registered with CUAET will be eligible for tuition relief immediately, and eligible students will pay domestic tuition rates until March 31, 2030. The province says it will conduct a program review in 2029 to determine whether the need for tuition relief remains.
The extension is being welcomed by Ukrainian students.
“We feel welcomed in this country, in this province,” said University of Regina student Anton Merzliakov.
He said this was a “great relief” on finances, plus in this program “I get to maybe get a new career and skills and a chance at that.”
In a statement, NDP MLA for Saskatoon Churchill Wildwood Keith Jorgenson said he was “glad to see Minister Cheveldayoff finally do something to help out Ukrainian students after we’ve called for action for months.”
“We’ll be reviewing the details of today’s announcement to determine whether or not it goes far enough,” Jorgenson said. “The wait has been excruciating for all those students left in limbo and should not have taken this long. The Minister needs to be straight with the people of Saskatchewan about why he dragged his feet on this issue and why he tried to suggest early on that this wasn’t an issue he was responsible for in the first place.”
