As international students offered a financial lifeline to many post-secondary institutions across the province, executives of some of these schools have also buoyed Tory fundraising numbers. The Progressive Conservatives have raked in over $151,000 from directors and executives of private schools that partnered with public colleges since 2018, corporate records and Elections Ontario data show.
Most of the money — over $62,000 — donated to the PCs’ causes by directors and executives of public college-private partnerships (PPPs) schools went directly to the party. Specific riding associations also cashed in, including Colleges and Universities Minister Jill Dunlop’s Simcoe North, which has raised more than $27,000 from directors and executives of PPPs since she was appointed to the ministerial portfolio in 2021. It was the most of any riding association