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In the early to mid-1990s, the federal government made massive cuts to post-secondary education transfer payments to the provinces. Most provinces passed on the cost of those cuts to students in the form of higher tuition fees. At the time, the Federation articulated the view that rising fees would result in reduced access to post-secondary education. Now, in 2003, a wide variety of studies substantiate the view that an increase in fees precipitates declining rates of participation among low and middle income Canadians.

While all students in Canada have faced dramatic fee increases over the last decade, tuition fees for international students have become particularly burdensome in recent years. In 2002, average graduate tuition fees for international students reached $10,181, more than double the already high fees paid by Canadian citizens. At some universities, international graduate students pay up to $26,000 a year in tuition fees, and this figure rises to over $28,000 when professional programs such as medicine and law are included. These high differential fees are an unfair burden and a barrier to post-secondary education for international students. Ultimately, such fees will threaten Canada's ability to attract and retain the talented people needed to prosper in the future.