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At its September meeting, the Queen’s Board of Trustees reviewed and approved the university’s Audited Consolidated Financial Statement for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2024. The statement reports a $76.2 million surplus, primarily driven by strong, one-time investment returns during the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The majority of the 2023-24 surplus occurred in university funds that are restricted for designated purposes, including research, grants, contract funding, and donations (student scholarships and bursaries, faculty chairs and professorships). These funds are not available to be used to cover general university expenses.

At the same time, the operating fund, where faculty and staff salaries and other costs associated with running the university reside, would have reported a deficit if income on the Pooled Investment Fund had not been so strong.

“The university has been relying on our operating contingencies to cover our structural operating deficit and those funds will be depleted in the next three years if expenditures are not reduced. Unless we find a way to address these continued financial pressures the institution’s long-term financial sustainability is threatened,” says Donna Janiec, Vice-Principal (Finance and Administration). “We must continue with the urgent Balanced Budget Plan measures already in place and continue to investigate and eventually implement a range of other options to return the university to structural balance.”

To manage risk, the use of returns from unpredictable investment funds to balance annual operating budgets is usually limited. For that reason, the university budgets $5.2 million annually to support the operating budget.

“As part of the 2025-26 budget cycle, the university will review the amount of investment income that could reasonably be used to support on-going operations annually,” says VP Janiec. “Any adjustments to the budget will be considered in the context of the university’s risk tolerance.”

It is also important to note that returns from the university’s investment accounts are used to help save to invest in capital projects – projects that are very important to the university’s academic mission through research and teaching. There is no other funding mechanism available to save for these types of capital investments apart from the excess investment income on investments. In recent years funds from this account have enabled the university to purchase KCVI secondary school, and support research through investment in a new research facility at the Queen’s Biological Research Station.

Queen’s is not alone in facing financial challenges as many universities in Ontario are in a difficult position due to the ongoing provincial tuition freeze and increasing expenses, as well as the cap on international student visas, all of which decrease the amount of funding available to support operations.

More information on Queen’s current and previous Audited Financial Statements is available on the Financial Services website.