Two firms — including one appointed by the provincial government — are auditing Vancouver Island University’s move to cut $11.65 million from its next budget.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP has been conducting a cash and financial framework audit of the university since April.
The firm, which had been appointed by the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education to assess whether VIU can remain financially stable and make recommendations, is expected to finish its audit on May 22.
After years of running multimillion-dollar deficits, VIU is trying to return to a balanced budget by 2027.
The university’s annual budget for 2025-26 has been delayed to June 3. In past years, budgets were usually finalized in March.
Emily Huner, who became VIU’s acting president in April, has also hired Deloitte to review the university’s plan to reduce its deficit by $18 million.
“We must get our house in order, and these audits will help the Ministry and the Board of Governors determine the best way to support VIU moving forward,” Huner said in a statement announcing the two audits last month.
Since 2023, the university has made a series of cuts to academic and auxiliary programs to try to reduce expenses.
This week, Huner and acting provost Claire Grogan announced their intention to and cut the number of deans at the university in half, a proposal that will be discussed at VIU’s senate on May 21.
VIU is one of two public universities that have recently had their finances come under ministerial scrutiny.
The Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills said it requested an external financial audit of Royal Roads University last fall.
A ministry spokesperson said VIU and Royal Roads are the only universities out of the 25 public post-secondary universities in 小蓝视频 that have been requested to undergo this type of audit.
The audit results for Royal Roads have not been made public, but the Colwood university has been approved by the province to run a $1.2 million deficit in the 2025-26 financial year.
Royal Roads is aiming to return to a balanced budget by 2028.
Alex Kortum, the university’s vice-president of finance and operations, said in a recent board of governors presentation that a key factor to reducing the university deficit is to create stable student enrolment and continued government support in expansion efforts such as the building of a Langford campus.
Royal Roads has seen declining enrolment since 2022 in both international and domestic students.
Some of the university’s operating costs have increased sharply as well.
Kortum said Colwood campus security costs have increased by 18.8 per cent, cloud and software licensing costs have increased by 17 per cent, and gas and oil heating costs have increased by more than 36 per cent.
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