Tuition fees for undergraduate students rose by an average of 4 per cent this school year, according to Statistics Canada.
Average full-time tuition for the 2010-11 academic year is $5,138, up from $4,942 a year earlier.
Statscan said tuition rose in most provinces, with Ontario having the highest average fees of $6,307, an increase of 5.4 per cent over last year.
"Canada is on the verge of bankrupting a generation," David Molenhuis, national chairman of the Canadian Federation of Students, said in a release. "A lack of government investment has left students and their families footing the bill for Canada's universities."
In contrast to the 4 per cent tuition increase, inflation rose by 1.8 per cent in the past year.
Statscan found that Alberta had the smallest tuition increase, at 1.5 per cent. Fees remained the same in Newfoundland and New Brunswick while tuition declined by 4.5 per cent in Nova Scotia.
Undergrads in Quebec continue to pay the lowest tuition, at $2,415. Those in Newfoundland have the second-lowest fees, at $2,624.
Dentistry is the most expensive undergraduate program, with average tuition of $14,701.
Graduate students faced even higher tuition increases, with fees rising an average of 6.6 per cent to $5,182.
Ontario grad students faced the steepest increase, an average of 10.6 per cent to $6,917. However, at $7,350, Nova Scotia students pay the highest graduate tuition.
Students doing executive MBAs pay the highest tuition, at an average of $28,773. Regular MBA programs have average fees of $21,118.
Statistics Canada also found that additional compulsory fees are increasing. These payments, which include fees for athletics, student health services and student associations, rose to an average of $702 from $656 a year earlier, an increase of 7 per cent.
Higher tuition is not limited to Canadian students. Fees for international undergraduate students increased by 5.2 per cent to an average of $16,768 in 2010-2011.
Statscan said the average undergraduate tuition increase of 4 per cent over last year's rates is higher than the previous increase of 3.6 per cent over 2008-2009 costs.
Jill Mahoney