Ontario, already the province with the most universities and colleges in Canada, will add 20,000 new places for students this fall, according to details in yesterday's provincial budget. The province will spend more than $300-million for the expansion, in addition to more than $200-million that was previously announced. The budget also says Ontario plans to aggressively promote its colleges and universities abroad to encourage the world's best students to study and settle in the province. It will also pay for an improved credit-transfer system. The higher-education expansion was welcomed by the universities and colleges, but faculty members said there was no mention of hiring additional professors.

Saskatchewan says it will reinstate funds the province provides to the First Nations University of Canada, but the money will flow through the University of Regina, CBC News reported. The province had withdrawn its support for First Nations last month, saying it was fed up with the troubled institution's delays in sorting out administrative and financial problems. The federal government followed suit, which led to major governance changes at the university. Saskatchewan moved to restore the funds on Tuesday after a deal was signed by the province, the University of Regina, First Nations University, and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. It is not yet known whether the federal government will restore the money it cut off.

The solution to Atlantic Canada's forecast shortage of skilled and professional workers amid an aging population could lie with not only recruiting more international and out-of-region students but persuading them to stay after they graduate, according to a new paper published by the Association of Atlantic Universities. The four provinces that make up Atlantic Canada are home to 17 universities that already attract many international students, and they, along with most other Canadian institutions, have stepped up recruiting in recent years. But many graduates who opt to stay in Canada choose to live in major urban centers like Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver. The paper suggests the region take steps to become more attractive as a place to settle down.

The CanWest News Service reports that the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada's major grant-making agency for science, has barred a star nanotechnology researcher at the University of Calgary from future grants because of allegations of improper use of grant money and plagiarism. The council did not name the researcher, but the news service said it had identified him as Daniel Kwok. Mr. Kwok, who has received grants and fellowships worth around $2-million, denied any wrongdoing, telling CanWest, "I have replied to NSERC. The whole thing was unfair. I can't say any more."

The university had recently warned its researchers that sloppy management of grant money could put Calgary's annual $80-million of federal grants at risk, according to Maclean's. The university gave the magazine a summary of a government draft report that called for immediate action to correct the ...

A dissatisfied student who was expelled for criticizing his private career college in front of prospective students will get his tuition returned, along with court costs and the maximum allowable damages, after winning his case in a small-claims court in Halifax, Nova Scotia. "Expulsion of a student is a form of educational capital punishment," wrote the adjudicator in the decision, according to The Chronicle-Herald. The Centre for Arts and Technology, in Halifax, had kicked out Trevor Power for breaching a policy that barred students from making negative comments about the institution. The court ruled that the expulsion was unjust because students weren't given any information about the policy, and because it was not part of the contract that they signed upon enrollment.

York University has suspended a student in connection with online comments that advocate "genocide" against Jews, according to The National Post. The Toronto university has ordered the student, Salman Hossain, to appear before a disciplinary panel, and in the meantime it has banned him from attending classes. The newspaper reported last week that the Ontario Provincial Police's hate-crimes unit was investigating the student for his recent postings on an American anti-Semitic Web site, which featured his writings about Jews, Christians, and moderate Canadian Muslims, whom he calls "traitors." Meanwhile, York's president, Mamdouh Shoukri, issued a statement reminding students and staff members of the rights and responsibilities associated with free speech.

Nearly 2,500 lecturers at the University of Montreal went on a full strike on Wednesday, according to CBC News. The walkout primarily affects students in the arts and sciences, education classes, and evening courses. The union says that 50 percent of undergraduate courses (except medicine) are taught by lecturers, who have been without a contract for six months. Class sizes, pensions, and salaries are the main issues in dispute. The lecturers have held a series of half-day and full-day walkouts, but now they say the strike will go on indefinitely. The university called the strike premature, saying it could mean the term will extend into the summer months. The next negotiating session is scheduled for March 8.

All 63 students and crew and faculty members taking part in a seagoing Canadian academic program are safe after their sailing ship capsized off the coast of Brazil, according to a statement released this morning by the Nova Scotia-based West Island College International--Class Afloat. The first-year college students and high-school students left Canada in September for a yearlong voyage. The group apparently spent the night in lifeboats before being rescued by the Brazilian navy.  A retired professor from Acadia University, in Nova Scotia, was among those rescued, according to a report in The Toronto Star.

The Canadian government is halting the transfer of federal funds to the troubled First Nations University, citing concerns over finances and longstanding governance issues, according to a statement issued by Chuck Strahl, minister of Indian and Northern Affairs. The federal action follows a similar decision by the Saskatchewan government last week to end its support. Those actions will take away about half of the university's support as of April 1. Students and faculty members are shocked, according to CBC News. Students are worried about being able to continue their studies, although the Universities of Regina and Saskatchewan have said they will help.

China has taken the University of Calgary off its list of accredited universities, most likely because it gave the Dalai Lama an honorary degree last September when he visited Calgary, according to the Calgary Herald. The university has about 600 students from China and is trying to find out what the sanction means for graduates who are back in China, as well as for current students. The newspaper quotes a Chinese consular official who said the move was related to something that happened last year. Chinese officials had warned the university last April not to allow the Dalai Lama to visit the campus or to give him a degree. The Tibetan spiritual leader did not go to the campus but received the degree at the start of a conference in the city.