government confirms 2026 tuition freeze following student pressure

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7044058

Less than an hour before the announcement, Education Minister Paul Dinn told reporters the government would be reinstating a tuition freeze for Newfoundland and Labrador's only university.

Dinn said he's hopeful the freeze can apply to the fall 2026 semester, but it will be in place until MUN can get its finances in order.

"We're not going to let the university balance the books on the backs of the students. And part of that is no tuition increases until we see, or are confident, that Memorial University are addressing their fiscal challenges," Dinn said.

For [Nicolas] Keough, chair of the Canadian Federation of Students Newfoundland and Labrador, the promise was welcomed.

He got the commitment from Dinn on Monday, when the two met alongside other student union leaders at MUN. He spoke with CBC News about the freeze before it was publicly announced.

"For students that are grandfathered in, that started before 2022, that would be an extreme help. It would save them thousands of dollars… It would mean that students might not have to work two jobs outside of school. Might not have to worry as much about housing or as much about food.”