Strategic Mandate Agreements (SMAs) are bilateral agreements between the ministry and the province’s 45 publicly-assisted colleges and universities. SMAs are a key component of the ministry’s accountability framework for the postsecondary education system. The Strategic Mandate Agreement 3 (SMA3) runs from fiscal year 2020/21 to 2024/25 and introduces the performance-based funding mechanism to support ‘differentiated improvement’, recognizing important differences among Ontario’s postsecondary institutions. Performance-based funding requires institutions to meet targets across 10 ministry specified metrics. Universities and the ministry negotiate bilaterally to agree upon the parameters for metric activation.