The only ones who will apply are those who are well off, and immigrant and other groups will be missing. Ontario's tuition fees are the highest in the country due to the 1998 deregulation of fees for some undergraduate professional programs, including medicine. The task force is also asking governments to put their assistance on par with tuition fee hikes. The CMA and MD Management decided in December to combine forces to match the bursary contributions from provincial medical associations, but the associations or schools will manage the funds. The CMA has also formed the National Professional Association Coalition on Tuition.
Members are from fields such as law and engineering, where tuition fees are also rising.
It will attempt to negotiate reasonable tuition fees and ensure that financial support exists for students, says coalition chair Dr. William Easton. Barbara Sibbald is CMAJ 's Associate Editor, News and Features.