A student advocate fears lifting the cap on Manitoba tuition hikes could lead more students to leave the province.

Manitoba's premier and education minister have confirmed the government will consider ending the current practice of capping annual hikes to the rate of inflation, which could pave the way for more substantial increases.

The province says that's one way to ensure schools receive the investments they need to guarantee quality education for students. But student leaders say that could send current students packing.

"In Nova Scotia, their fees rose 5.6% this year and they're seeing a lot of students move," said Michael Barkman, Manitoba chair of the Canadian Federation of Students. "Affordable rates keep students in our province."

Barkman said the loss of this "competitive edge" to attract students also threatens to deepen provincial student debt, which currently averages about $19,500 per student.

Barkman said his members would prefer to see the current cap expand to include international and graduate students, followed by a long-term shift to replace tuition with federal and provincial government funding.

Tanjit Nagra, president of the University of Manitoba Students' Union, believes moving costs could actually prevent many inter-provincial moves over a modest tuition increase.

But Nagra fears international students, who already face higher base fees, could be priced out of continuing their degrees.

"For international students, when tuition is raised, it does set a lot of people back and we see a lot of students returning home because they can't afford it," she said.

Premier Brian Pallister, however, said he doesn't expect removing the tuition cap would force students to flee.

"Realistically, our tuitions are much lower than jurisdictions around us, I don't think that's a concern. What is a concern is making sure that young people have the opportunity to uplift themselves and their skills," said Pallister.

The premier said he expects any tuition hike, if the cap were lifted, would be gradual to help soften the impact on students.

"We have to strike the right balance. We have to make sure the quality of our education is uplifted," said Pallister.

University of Manitoba president David Barnard has said publicly that Manitoba would need to raise tuition fees for full-time undergrads by about $2,000 a year to equal the tuition revenue of Saskatchewan universities. Barnard couldn't be reached for further comment Wednesday.

But students fear reaching that level would cut off access to education for low-income students.

"That would certainly see a lot of people priced out of education," said Barkman.

jpursaga@postmedia.com

Twitter: @pursagawpgsun