“In our opinion, this is unacceptable when dealing with a sports team that provides equal opportunity, accessibility, and a diverse community as much as track does. Not to mention, we’re coming off one of our most successful seasons of recent memory, finishing second in the RSEQ and sending a large group to nationals. Instead of building off of that momentum, we’ve gone completely backwards.” – Robbie Gerstner
McGill University is one of the oldest academic institutions in Canada and currently holds the honor of being the top-ranked university in the country on the World University Rankings.
Despite its long history of academic and athletic excellence, its athletic reputation will be taking a step back. On November 20, the university announced its intention to cut 15 of its varsity programs, and 25 teams overall, for the 2026–2027 season. These cuts include the track and field team that dates back to the 1899–1900 season.
The cuts follow the university’s internal audit in 2024 and an independent external review in 2025. According to the university’s official statement:
“The findings from both reviews highlighted ongoing challenges related to facility space, budget constraints, and human resources capacity. Simply put, our unit can no longer effectively manage or support the same number of activities while maintaining the standards of excellence expected at McGill.”
The 15 sports that will be cut include:
- Badminton (m/w)
- Baseball (m)
- Fencing (m/w)
- Field Hockey (w)
- Figure Skating (m/w)
- Golf (m/w)
- Lacrosse (w)
- Logger Sports (m/w)
- Nordic Ski (m/w)
- Rugby (w)
- Sailing (m/w)
- Squash (m/w)
- Tennis (m/w)
- Track and Field (m/w)
- Volleyball (m)
McGill University Financial Difficulties
Many student athletes, including several interviewed by CBC News in the past few days, have expressed feeling as if the decision was made without a discussion.
As Robbie Gerstner, a member of the track and field team, put it:
“The biggest thing that bothers me is how little it seemed they cared about us, the 125-year legacy, and the impact of the team throughout this process. They did not keep us adequately informed about this scrutiny and have still failed to provide us with any concrete, justifiable reasoning.”
Universities across Canada have been facing financial difficulties post-pandemic due to a mix of factors such as reduced government funding and drops in international student enrolment.
McGill hasn’t been immune to these difficulties. In their annual budget report for the 2025–2026 academic year, the school forecasts a $4.1 million deficit and intends to run a $45 million budget correction.
Their predicted revenue for the 2025–2026 academic year is expected to be $1.14 billion, down from their 5-year peak of $1.96 billion in 2021.
Reasons they give in their budget report for their financial pressure include the cut of anticipated funding from the Québec government, mandatory tuition increases imposed for Canadian Non-Resident students of Québec, and a reduction in the number of student immigration permits granted.
Although, it’s worth noting that a Quebec judge struck down the Quebec’s proposed tuition hikes for out-of-province students in April.
While the exact budget of the athletics department isn’t publicly available, in February, the university provost and executive vice-president Christopher Manfredi announced that 80% of the university’s expenses are salary, and any meaningful cuts will have to come from salary.
This raises the question of how much money is being saved by cutting a sport like track and field, where generally only a small number of coaching positions are paid, while the remainder of the positions are filled by volunteers who likely only receive nominal compensation.
Undergraduate students on the downtown and Macdonald campuses are currently required to pay a $171.28 athletics and recreation fee per semester, which partially supports varsity teams. A memo from the Post-Graduate Students’ Society in 2013 noted that about 34.1% went to directly subsidize the varsity athletics teams.
The school hasn’t announced at this time whether reductions in the varsity programs will also lead to a reduction in student fees.
Lack of Athletics Budget Transparency
Without access to the McGill Athletics & Recreation budget, we can’t fairly assess whether cuts to the athletics program will make a meaningful difference in the university’s deficit. However, student athletes have expressed their concerns with the lack of transparency behind the decision.
It does stand to reason that making the financial records publicly available could help open a constructive conversation about whether there’s any potential middle ground between cutting programs entirely and finding new ways to finance them.
This isn’t the first time that the university has threatened to shut down athletics programs. In 1970, the Quebec government put pressure on the university, which led to the university’s board of governors canceling funding to intercollegiate sport to save $300,000. A strong defence by donors, students, the Marlet Foundation, and volunteers ended with increased athletic fees and increased donations to keep the athletics programs going.
Perhaps with this history in mind, McGill students are once again rallying to try to change the university’s mind. An open letter to McGill Athletics, as well as a change.com petition, have been circulating online.
You can help support the McGill track and field team by signing either.