M J Bonner:—This is an appeal from an assessment of income tax for the appellant’s 1975 taxation year. The appellant claimed deductions under paragraphs 60(e) and 110(1 )(g) of the Income Tax Act in respect of tuition fees paid and attendance at an educational institution in England known as Leicester Polytechnic. Paragraph 60(e) permits a deduction in respect of tuition fees paid to a university. Paragraph 110(1)(g) permits a deduction, the amount of which is calculated by reference to the term spent in full-time attendance at a “designated educational institution”, a term defined for purposes of paragraph 110(1)(g) by subsection 110(9). In so far as is relevant to this appeal subparagraph 110(9)(a)(ii) requires that the institution be a “university”.
Both deductions claimed by the appellant were disallowed by the respondent on the basis that Leicester Polytechnic was not a “university” within the meaning of the relevant provisions of the Act.
Before his attendance at Leicester Polytechnic the appellant was the holder of a degree in fine arts from the University of Manitoba. As well, he had been awarded by the London College of Printing a certificate in advanced typographic design.
Following his attendance at Leicester Polytechnic the appellant was awarded a MA degree in Graphics Design. The course taken and entry requirements therefor are in part described at page 42 of Exhibit R-1, the calendar of Leicester Polytechnic, as follows:
MA in Graphics Design
The aim of the course is to provide graduates with an environment, technical facilities and professional expertise suitable for advanced study in a specific area of graphics, and to enable them to develop the quality of their talents to a high standard of professional and intellectual excellence beyond that which may be achieved on a BA course.
An individual study programme is proposed for each student within the broad framework of the MA courses. The objective is to develop the graduates ability to assess and solve design problems creatively, and to be able to understand the processes of production and reproduction so they can be used imaginatively. Particular emphasis is laid. on developing new thinking in existing areas of the subject and stimulating research into new fields for the use of graphics.
Entry Requirements
Applicants should normally be Honours graduates or should hold a professional qualification recognized as being of Honours equivalent.
The position taken by the respondent was that Leicester Polytechnic was not a university because and only because that institution was not itself vested with the power to grant degrees.
The evidence established that, insofar as recognition of academic achievement at Leicester Polytechnic is concerned, the power to grant degrees is vested in a body known as The Council for National Aca* demie Awards. That body and its function are described at page 10 of Exhibit R-1 as follows:
Council for National Academic Awards
The Council for National Academic Awards is an autonomous body which was established by Royal Charter in September 1964 with powers to award degrees, diplomas, certificates and other academic awards to persons who have successfully pursued courses of study approved by the Council at an educational establishment other than a university, or who have successfully carried our research work under the supervision of an educational or research establishment other than a university. The Council thus awards degrees, comparable in standard with degrees granted by universities, to students who pursue their higher education in establishments for advanced further education which do not have the power to award their own degrees.
The MA degree awarded to the appellant was awarded by the Council. In the statutory context of the provisions relevant to this appeal Parliament has clearly distinguished between universities and other educational institutions. This distinction will be seen when comparison is made between paragraphs 60(e) and 60(f) and between subparagraphs 110(9)(a)(i) and (ii).
The absence of a power vested in Leicester Polytechnic to grant degrees is in my view fatal to the contention that the institution is a university within the meaning of the Act. In Re City of London and Ursuline Religious of The Diocese of London, [1964] 1 OR 587, the Ontario Court of Appeal considered the question whether Ursuline College, an institution affiliated to the University of Western Ontario and offering courses leading to a degree which could be conferred only by the University of Western Ontario, was a university within the meaning of The Assessment Act (Ontario). Schroeder, JA, delivering the judgment of the court, considered the authorities at ¢ 594 and 595 and concluded at p 595:
The chief distinguishing characteristic between a university and other institutions of learning is the power and authority possessed by. an. institution of learning to grant titles or degrees such as Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, or Doctor of Divinity, by which it is certified that the holders have attained some definite proficiency. It is not pretended that the respondent is invested with such power or authority. Our modern universities would appear to be the successors of the medieval institution known as the studium generale, the body of students and masters being known as universitas scholarium and universitas magistrorum, which were organized into four faculties, arts, theology, medicine and law. Unless an educational institution for instruction and examination in the more important branches of learning possessed the power by character or statute to grant degrees it did not qualify as a university. When measured by that standard the respondent clearly does not possess the status of a university.
The appeal is therefore dismissed.
Appeal dismissed.