Real total operating expenditures at Canadian universities rose 11.6% over five years to 2016-17 (so, roughly inflation plus 1.8%). The big new expenditure areas: student services and ICT. Admin costs now growing slower than instructional cost (that's mainly academics salaries) 
Ok, y'all know the mantra that universities hate paying academics and are diverting all their $ to contract faculty instead? Here is the percentage of total academic wages taken home by non-TT academic staff at Cdn universities since 2000.
Here's another little puzzle in Canadian university finances: operating expenditures are increasing *much* more quickly than total expenditures. Why? Mainly because capital expenditure is down and research income is flat.
But wait a minute you say! Didn't we show a few hours ago how much new money flowed into universities for capital expenditures last year thanks to SIF? Yes, but *income* for capital is immediate. Capital *expenditures* get booked over years and years. Tricky.
Lesson today: i) institutional incomes are spiky - pay attention to trends, not year-to-year. ii) institutional & total $ data may tell slightly different stories iii) familiar stories of institutional woes (e.g. $ for admin, sessionals, crowding out other spending) are untrue.
