KSA in $1.5 million deficit, spent over double the legal fees budget in 6 months

The Kwantlen Student Association is in an almost $1.5 million deficit, according to its June 2025 proposed draft budget. 

The KSA’s operations, clubs and events, lobbying, peer support, and REBOOT computer repair budgets are all reporting a deficit in the draft statements.

The majority of KSA funding comes from students through membership fees. All Kwantlen Polytechnic University students pay into the association’s operations budget, clubs and events, and other KSA programs and services.

As of June, the KSA has only collected 29 per cent of its projected membership fees for 2025.

Student enrolment at KPU has decreased due to a cap on international student intake, which took effect last year during the previous federal government under Justin Trudeau.

At KPU, international student enrolment fell by 2,000 last year and is expected to drop a further 1,500 over the next year, The Runner reported in April. A decrease in student enrolment means there were fewer membership fees collected by the KSA.

The largest deficit within the student union’s operations budget is under legal and professional fees. Although the approved budget for the 2025 fiscal year was $200,000, the KSA spent a total $431,311 on legal and professional fees from January to June, more than double the allotted amount for 2025.

By February, the KSA had spent $176,930 in legal and professional fees — 88 per cent of the year’s total budget.

In 2024, the association spent $382,051 on legal fees — almost $50,000 less than what it had spent in the first six months of this year alone.

The last time the KSA spent more than $400,000 on legal and professional fees in one fiscal year was 2017, when the association took the British Columbia Federation of Students (BCFS) to court during what had been an already three-year-long legal battle.

From 2019 to 2022, the KSA spent $249,646 on legal and professional fees — $181,665 less than what it has spent so far for this year. The association’s legal fees were $54,253 in 2019, $73,995 in 2020, $58,186 in 2021, and $63,212 in 2022. 

In 2023, the KSA increased the budget for legal and professional fees from the previous fiscal year’s allotted $70,000 to $200,000. Despite the 186-per-cent increase in 2023, the association spent an extra $94,978 on legal fees in 2023.

As per the June 2025 draft budget, wages and benefits within operations for staff are almost $40,000 higher than the budgeted $831,616.

In the clubs and events budget, the KSA is in a $259,775 deficit. The association has only collected 28 per cent or $70,221 of its clubs and events fees in six months. 

From September 2024 to August 2025, the KSA clubs and events fee was $0.81 per credit.

So far this year, the KSA has incurred $329,996 in expenses in clubs and events. The largest expenditure was for KSA-held events, where the association has spent $193,357 or 77 per cent of its annual budget.

KSA clubs collectively received $31,610 of their allocated $90,000 support funding for the year.

The KSA’s peer support program is in a $11,840 deficit, with its largest expense being wages and benefits of $38,546 as of June. The peer support fee for students was $0.32 per credit as of September 2024 to August this year.

REBOOT computer repair is in a $3,274 deficit and its largest and only expense for 2025 is wages and benefits, which is $39,854. REBOOT computer repair has collected $0.43 per credit from all students.

The association’s lobbying fund is in a deficit of $940, with its largest expense also being wages and benefits. In June, the KSA spent $6,226 on campaigns and conferences through its lobbying fund.

The Runner reached out to KSA Executive Director Timothii Ragavan and President Paramvir Singh, as well as Vice-President Finance and Operations Manmeet Kaur for a comment. They did not respond before publication.