Laurentian University to spend millions on recommendations in second budget post insolvency, but nothing new to reopen pool

Laurentian University's board of governors approved a budget of just over $201.7 million for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

Laurentian University's board of governors approved a budget of just over $201.7 million for the 2024-2025 fiscal year on Friday. The school is predicting a small surplus of $500,000 in only its second budget following the end of its insolvency, with projected revenues of $201.7 million and expenses of $201.2 million.

The school says it will also set aside $8 million to enact recommendations to bring the university up to modern operating standards following its insolvency.

The $8 million operational update costs include $7.2 million in operating expenses and $800,000 in capital expenses for 2024-2025 year, and includes the salary of a lead transformation officer the university has yet to hire to lead the process along with money for information technology upgrades.

This comes after a cyber-security incident at Laurentian earlier this year.

The money being set aside will be used to respond to 52 recommendations from the provincial auditor general and Nous Group consultants will be segregated and not part of the school’s operating budget, and includes additional money for information technology upgrades.

Transforming the school’s operations may cost even more than the $8 million figure according to the budget documents, though. The projected financials for the costs for the first year of transformation implementation that is set to begin next month is $8.8 to $13.6 million.