The United States is asking Canada and other members of the World Trade Organization to make sweeping new commitments that would bring higher education services under the full weight of the General Agreement on Trade in Services.

In a document obtained by CAUT last month, the U.S. government demands that all countries "provide full market access and national treatment ... for higher education and training services."

In particular, the U.S. is requesting that Canada eliminate any regulations or restrictions that prevent for-profit education providers from entering Canada or restrict foreign on-line educational institutions from providing services to Canadians.

"If Canada were to agree to these requests, the impact on the country's universities and colleges would be serious," said CAUT president Victor Catano. "Public operating grants to Canadian universities could be seen as an unfair subsidy. Rules preventing or limiting for-profit universities and colleges would be swept aside. In fact, any regulation that a foreign education provider thought might compromise its ability to provide services in Canada could be challenged."

CAUT has been aggressively lobbying the government of Canada not to make or seek any commitments on education in GATS negotiations. Catano says that while those lobbying efforts have appeared to pay off, with Canadian officials saying they have no intention of making or seeking commitments for education services, he worries the U.S. may now apply added pressure on Canadian negotiators.

"Our fear now is that the Americans may dangle something enticing in front of our negotiators in exchange for gaining commitments on post-secondary education."

Academic staff need to pay attention to GATS negotiations, Catano says, because the agreement has the potential to radically transform Canada's universities and colleges.

"At its heart, GATS would commit Canada to a liberalization of public services like education, not just in terms of eliminating barriers to trade and investment, but also by encouraging privatization, contracting out and deregulation," Catano said.

The General Agreement on Trade in Services is one of several new agreements adopted in 1994 as part of the newly-established World Trade Organization. As part of a built-in agenda, negotiations aimed at expanding GATS began in 2000 and are expected to conclude by 2005.