The 2019 Alberta Budget released in October 2019 reduced grants to the provincial post-secondary sector, including a $44-million reduction for the U of A and an additional freeze of $35 million allocated for infrastructure. In early 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the United Conservative Party announced an additional $110-million cut to funding for the U of A. While outgoing University President David Turpin announced that the cuts would necessitate 400 job losses by March 31 and more than 600 additional positions would need to be eliminated in 2020-21, incoming University President Bill Flanagan began campus discussions about how to manage the cuts, including reducing the number of faculties and departments, and streamlining administration staffing.