Economic Impact of Universities in Manitoba

Economic Impact of Universities in Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian province that is bordered by Saskatchewan and Ontario. One of the most significant industries in the province is the education sector. The region has numerous schools, including universities that do not only provide a skilled labor force to the country but also adds some necessary knowledge into the society. Some of the top universities in the province include the University of Manitoba, Brandon University, Canadian Mennonite University, The University of Winnipeg, and Universite de Saint-Boniface. All these Universities meet UniRank selection criteria that postulates that the institution must be chattered and accredited by the relevant Canadian bodies, offer at least a bachelor and a post-graduate degree, and deliver courses face to face, non-distance format. These institutions aim to provide knowledge to the society for sustainable economic development.

There is a total of eight Universities in Manitoba. Geographically, these Universities are concentrated in Winnipeg. Six out of the Eight Universities are located in this region. The six Universities include Université de Saint-Boniface, University of Winnipeg, University of Manitoba, University College of the North, the Bratson College and, Booth University. The high concentration of these institutions in this region is attributed to the region’s strong economy, high population, and good transport networks. The other three Universities Include the Brandon University and Assiniboine Community College that are located in Brandon. Most of these institutions are public and offer a variety of degree programs. The requirement for admission in these institutions is at least a high school diploma or equivalent general academic training for baccalaureate programs, and often a baccalaureate degree for professional or graduate programs..

The universities offer a variety of services that significantly contribute to the economy of the province and the whole country in general.  First, the Universities train Knowledge workers. The success of any economy is heavily dependent on the quality and quantity of the readily available workforce. The universities in this region offer varied bachelor’s degrees and post-graduate programs whose graduates are directly absorbed in the various industries in the province. The other service that these universities provide is world-class research on the various issue that may affect the economy of the region. For instance, since Agriculture is the primary driver of Manitoba’s economy, the University of Manitoba has directed a significant amount of funds towards agricultural research. The research has borne fruits since, in the past four years, statistics indicate that there has been an increase in the Agricultural contribution to the economy of the province.

Other essential economic services that the Universities offer to Manitoba include creating new knowledge that contributes to innovation and economic growth. For instance, in 2018, the University of Manitoba innovated a grain monitoring technology that has been very helpful to the largest grain-bin manufacture in the world. Universities have also seen innovation of new business models that have proven to be very helpful in the market (University of Manitoba, 2020).  Besides innovation, these Universities also attract a lot of people to the province. Visitors come to attend the University’s hosted events, the International Sea Ice Symposium being an example in this case (University of Manitoba, 2020). Such events attract tourists who would most probably keep coming for other activities around the province.

GDP of Universities in Manitoba

Fig 1: Universities’ GDP (Statistics Canada, 2020).

As shown in fig 1, one above the GDP of universities in Manitoba has been moderately increasing from 2007 to 2017. This is mainly due to the increase in the number of international students in the Universities. Between 2010 and 2018, the average tuition fee in most of these universities increases by approximately 26% for Canadian students and 33 % for international students at the undergraduate level (Statistics Canada, 2020). The increase in the enrollment of international students and the additional tuition fee clearly explains the rise in GDP over the years.  Besides high tuition fee and an increased number of international students, the Universities’ GDP is as a result of the various innovative business activities that the institutions carry out around the province. Most of these activities are students’ projects that have been partially sponsored by the University. Brandon University is a typical example of an institution that engages in such kind of events.

The Universities in Manitoba employ a variety of staff who significantly contribute to the growth of the province’s economy.  The staff in the universities include administrators, academic faculty, librarians, tradespeople, and janitorial staff. These staff can be categorized into either full time or part-time. Full-time employees refer to those who work for at least five days a week in all the 54 weeks if the year.  Part-time employees, on the other hand, refers to the staff who work for less than 12 months in the year. According to Statistic Canada (2020), in the academic year 2013/2014, all the universities had approximately a total of 11,000 academic and non- academic staff. 44% of these were academic, while 56% were nonacademic, 58% were full-time employees, while 42% worked on a part-time basis.

The educational institutions incur several input expenses. One of the expenses is the training and salaries of the staff. All staff in the Universities require regular training in various fields so that they are up to date with global trends in education and technology. The pieces of training are sometimes lengthy and require a lot of capital. Besides training, the Universities also pay their staff a significant amount of money. For instance, the average salary for a student assistant at Brandon University is $ 12.51 per hour, while that of a professor is $ 73,141 per year (Indeed, n.d). Given the high number of staff that these institutions employ, it is evident that they spend a lot of money on salaries.  Besides salaries and training, other input expenses incurred by Universities in Manitoba include repair and mantainence fees and electricity bills. Fig 2 below shows the average hourly wage for both permanent (Full time) and temporary (part-time) employees in the Universities in Manitoba.

 Fig 2: Average salaries for permanent and temporary employees.

Generally, the education sector in Manitoba is well-performing with regard to its contribution to the economy of the region. The industry faces almost zero risks apart from the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic that might affect the number of international students in the Universities. Nevertheless, the higher learning institutions are likely to develop due to the favoritism that they receive from both local and international students highly. All in all, Manitoba’s Universities have a significant economic contribution to the region’s economy. The contributions range from proving skilled workforce to other industries to providing platforms where research and innovation can take place.

References

Statistics Canada. (2020). Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices by industry, provinces, and territories (x 1,000,000). Retrieved from: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3610040201

Indeed (n.d) Brandon University Salaries in Brandon, MB. Retrieved from: https://ca.indeed.com/cmp/Brandon-University/salaries?location=CA%2FMB%2FBrandon

University of Manitoba (2020). Economic Impact Report. Retrieved from: http://umanitoba.ca/about-um/economicimpact