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Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) is looking to shave 3.5 per cent off its spending this year in what will be the third cut in as many years. 

TMU President Mohamed Lachemi said that consultations and meetings with student and union leaders are ongoing and that the university is looking for savings in areas that will have the least impact on the student experience. 

“I don’t yet have all the specific details on where cuts will be made,” Lachemi told OTR. 

Faced with a budget shortfall of $16.9 million in 2023-2024, TMU has advised all university units and departments to plan for a 3.5 per cent base budget reduction. The March 2023-2024 budget shows that the total projected expenditures for the year are $683.1 million.

The university cut spending by two per cent last year and 3.5 per cent in 2021-2022, according to the university’s annual budget reports. 

In addition to last year’s spending cuts, TMU raised international and out-of-province tuition fees by five per cent and increased all residence rent fees by three per cent. Non-tuition university fees rose 2.85 per cent in line with inflation. 

The university relies upon tuition for just over half of its revenue while 37 per cent comes from grants and 10 per cent from other income-generating activities, according to the 2023-2024 budget. 

While tuition for international students has increased, Lachemi said in-province fees have been frozen since 2019, when the provincial government cut tuition rates for Ontarians by 10 per cent to below what they were in 2018-2019.  The freeze has not yet been lifted, and since then there has been “no coverage for several years worth of inflation and limited government funding,” he said. 

Lachemi said the university will not reduce the budget for student financial assistance. On The Record previously reported in February that TMU increased its overall entrance scholarship budget but cut its individual entrance scholarship amounts for students admitted in the 2023-2024 academic year. 

No decision has been made about a hiring freeze, the president said. 

According to TMU’s 2022-2023 enrolment plan, the university planned to reduce domestic first-year student intake and increase the number of international students who pay higher tuition rates. But Lachemi said building international enrolment was problematic during the pandemic and remains a challenge with inflation and the long wait times for visas adding to the difficulties.  TMU data show the level of international enrolment for the university is low in comparison to other Ontario universities.

Spyros Zarros, the vice president of operations for the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU), was skeptical of solving the university’s budget gap by bringing in more high-paying international students. In an email, he said education should be accessible for all students. 

“The university has overly relied on international students as money bags while letting the provincial government get away with cutting funding,” he said.

He said he is also concerned the budget cuts will result in bigger class sizes: “We know that our quality of education is going down when we have less hours with instructors as the student-to-teacher ratio goes up,” Zarros said. “Our biggest fears are already happening, that we are seeing a consistent decline in the quality and accessibility of our education year after year.” 

Richard Deklerk, who teaches accounting, hospitality, entrepreneurship and global management at TMU, said that having a higher ratio of international students could be a possible solution for the university.

But Deklerk, who is treasurer of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3904, said that as a sessional employee, his fear is that the budget reduction will result in cuts to CUPE positions. That’s easier for the university, he said,  than trying to reduce the number of full-time professors who are members of the Toronto Metropolitan University Faculty Association (TMFA). 

“If you were teaching a very low enrolment course, you might lose it,” Deklerk said. “I see our jobs getting hurt.”

Kelly Train, vice president for CUPE Local 3904, said the union is still waiting to see how the budget cuts play out and that its main goal is to protect its members’ livelihoods.

OTR reached out to TMFA, which represents tenure-track faculty, limited-term faculty, librarians, and counsellors at TMU, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Hannah Burgstaller was at her parents house during the first summer of the pandemic when she discovered her mother’s 30-year-old film camera and a new passion. 

“I basically took it from her and started getting into the hobby, because I really liked how film photos looked,” said the fourth-year media production student at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). 

“I was trying a bunch of different apps that mimicked the style of film, but none of them really match the way actual film does.”

The 22-year-old has an Instagram account dedicated to her film photography that captures moments of her life with a point and shoot film camera. She says she appreciates the authentic look film photos create.

“I love how the grain and colours give off a vintage feel,” she said. “But the anticipation of waiting for your photos—that was kind of a game. I would wait for my film to get developed and see what turned out well.”

Burgstaller is part of what some are calling an analog renaissance that has Generation Z looking for more authenticity and meaning in their photos.

“A lot of younger people are afraid to believe that they’re doing anything new,” says Laura Ramsey, a photographer and digital asset and imaging specialist at TMU’s The Image Centre. “This is new. Using a throwaway camera, digitizing it, and then putting it on Instagram. That’s a new thing that Generation Z is creating.”

The phenomenon is driving up the price of film as young people flock to camera stores. Kodak Film is increasing the price of its film by as much as 25 per cent this month. A roll of 35mm film now costs about $15.99 compared to $12.95 for one roll while 120 format film costs around $53.99 compared to $44.95 for five rolls. 

This latest increase is in addition to a 40 per cent surge that occurred in January.

Camera shops near TMU’s campus are seeing loads of new customers downtown who are either dropping off film to get developed or coming in to ask questions about a film camera they’ve recently acquired. 

“Tons of students are coming in that just got a film camera from a relative or school and asking how to work it. They want to learn,” said James Chapman, a customer service associate at Henry’s camera store on Church Street. “It’s a trend that’s been going on for two years.”

Chapman says the price hikes apply to both rolls of film and disposable cameras, which were popular in the 80s and 90s and are also making a comeback.

“Every year Kodak increases their price by a dollar because they know they can because it’s that popular… Disposable cameras used to be $20 now they’re $22,” Chapman says.

According to JC Market Research, the disposable camera market was worth around US$838.57 million in 2021 and will grow to US$1.2 billion by 2030.

As school reopened after the pandemic, Louis Moore, who works at Downtown Camera, says many students are coming into the store, dropping off film and looking for cameras. 

“Demand has gone up a lot, in the last few years. Getting consumer products from Kodak is pretty difficult. A lot of people come in asking for it and we just don’t have it.”

Moore said Gen Z is nostalgic for something different—and film photography allows for this.

“They’ve grown up with every photo they’ve taken being super clean and sharp. It’s that yearning for something a little different. Something that isn’t perfect,” he said.

Burgstaller said the first time she developed a roll of film she was hit with the reality that not every photo turned out the way she expected it to, but nonetheless, she was more than excited to get her photos back. 

Nicholas Corey, a fourth–year TMU photography student who likes to shoot with film, has been affected by the high costs.

“It makes me more conscious as to what I shoot. When I shoot medium format I get 12 photos per roll. Each roll costs me $25 so every time you press the shutter it’s $4.”

For The Image Centre’s Ramsey, the whole process of capturing a film photo allows people to be more present during special moments.

“When you do something every single day like take a picture with your phone and share it automatically, you’re really not thinking about it. It’s like breathing. You’re not conscious of your breath, most of the time. I think with analog, it’s the embodiment of that experience because it’s something new, as it’s different.”

While trends come and go, Corey says film will always stick around in some way. 

“Every trend has a circular life to it. It will be in style, it will be old, it will be cliché and then it will be retro. People are going back to film because of its retro look. I don’t think that’s going to go away.” 

Burgstaller said the idea of a distinctive look to pictures and the experience that comes with taking film photos has her hooked. 

“Everyone has a phone, everyone can take a picture. So with film, it’s the unique edge that you can add to your photos to look different than what everyone else is posting.”