After budgeting for $24 million deficit, Queen’s projects $29.6 million in losses for 2020-21

At last Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting, Donna Janiec, vice-principal (finance and administration), provided a report on Queen’s financial projections for the 2020-21 year.

The report, which was provided for informational purposes only and not discussed at the meeting, shows projections of a $29.6 million deficit for the 2020-21 academic year. The University had previously budgeted a $24 million deficit, the report said, crediting the losses to ripple effects associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Queen’s posted an operating surplus of $15.4 million in 2019-20.

The additional losses are largely due to lower-than-expected tuition and non-credit revenue, a consequence of lower enrolment levels than were initially budgeted.

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Ancillary Operations, which includes housing and hospitality services, have a projected deficit of $17.2 million after budgeting a $0.8 million deficit. Meanwhile, after budgeting $416 million in student fee revenues, the University is now projecting the total to be $396.5 million—a $19.5 million negative variance.

Other revenue—which is comprised of unrestricted donations, other income, and research overhead—is expected to be $3.5 million below budget. The University largely attributed the losses to the decline in membership, rental, and programming revenue for Athletics and Recreation (A&R). 

Investment income is also expected to see a shortfall, pulling in $13.8 million in revenue despite budgeting $17.5 million in revenues. Queen’s saw $50.7 million in investment income in 2019-20. 

The University has been able to offset a number of these losses through savings and cost containment measures, reducing its budgeted expenditures by $27.1 million.

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