Alberta bill proposes campus neutrality rules and a two per cent domestic tuition cap

Bill 38 would set expectations for institutional neutrality and freedom of expression at Alberta’s public post-secondary institutions, establish minimum conduct requirements and limit tuition increases for existing domestic students to two per cent next year. It passed first reading Tuesday; several policies and penalties would be developed later.

CTV News Edmonton has reported:

A proposed Alberta bill would require public universities and colleges to adopt freedom of expression policies, limit tuition increases for existing domestic students to two per cent next year and set minimum standards for student and staff conduct. Bill 38, the Advanced Education Statutes Amendment Act, passed first reading Tuesday afternoon in the legislature. Its provisions cover institutional neutrality, tuition regulation for non-international students, conduct codes and changes to professional licensing rules.

Advanced Education Minister Myles McDougall said the policies would be expected to ensure campuses provide a neutral setting where members can discuss a range of views. He told reporters Tuesday that schools should “stay in their lane” by maintaining an environment in which students can freely express opinions, including unpopular ones. The bill does not spell out the required policies, which the government expects institutions to finalize by next year.

“The expectation is that the institutions will provide the environment, the neutral environment, for different points of view, including those that may not be popular, to be expressed,” McDougall said. “I don’t think it has to be that complicated … I don’t see this as being a problem, I think most institutions already feel that this is the role of the institution.” He said specific penalties for failing to comply with neutrality requirements would also be decided around that time.

Under the government’s definition, institutional neutrality means a school must “refrain from issuing statements that take positions on political, social or ideological issues that are not related to its academic mission.” Freedom of expression would cover students, staff and visitors, allowing them to express opinions, debate ideas and take part in discourse without “institutional censorship,” provided the discussion is lawful. The bill would affect public and independent universities and colleges, while private and First Nations post-secondary institutions would not be covered, the government said.

Schools would be responsible for setting their own rules. The bill would give the ministry authority to direct staff to consult campus communities, and the ministry could review proposed policies. Amendments to the Professional Governance Act and the Post-secondary Learning Act are intended to ensure what McDougall called “common sense on campus.”

Alberta’s 26 public post-secondary institutions have been expected to implement freedom of expression policies since 2019. The initiative was inspired by the Chicago Principles, developed by the University of Chicago in 2014, which commit academics to the “widest possible range of ideas to be spoken and heard, even those that are considered wrong or offensive by many.” Then-minister Demetrios Nicolaides began requiring post-secondary academic institutions to report annually on efforts to protect free speech on campus in 2024.

The legislation would also give the ministry a role in setting minimum requirements for student and staff conduct. Institutions would continue to write their own codes and respond to violations case by case. The government said a 2025 review of almost 200 policies found that existing codes were written and applied inconsistently.

McDougall said his ministry was working with stakeholders to refine what conduct requirements could include. A separate panel is already examining the effects of artificial intelligence in post-secondary systems. “My expectation is that this is a moving target,” he said.

For existing domestic students, Bill 38 would cap tuition increases at two per cent next year and authorize the advanced education ministry to set maximum tuition amounts for programs or groups of programs through ministerial order. The government’s website says average tuition fees are already capped at two per cent annually, while increases for individual programs cannot exceed 10 per cent a year.

McDougall said the bill’s cap would guarantee lower tuition increases for domestic students in the 2027-28 school year. “We did not make that kind of statement that far in advance before … What happens in the future will continue to be dependent on circumstances.”

The bill also proposes technical changes to streamline professional licensing requirements in specialized engineering and geoscience fields. Both groups would be regulated by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta, replacing the two regulatory bodies that oversee them currently.