Labor's Knowledge Capital Plan includes a $30 million future jobs fund to provide finance for job creating or saving projects, payroll tax deferrals for universities and loans for sustainability investments.

"Our local universities have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic," Mr Barr said.

"They were left behind by the federal Liberal government by not including them in JobKeeper, which has had a huge impact on the future of many Canberra households that rely on these institutions for their income, or their education."

Mr Barr said the $30 million fund would take the form of a combination of grants, equity investment and loans for university projects in areas of specialisation such as renewable energy, cyber security and defence.

"There's an opportunity for each of the institutions to partner with the ACT government."

The party has also committed to building the Northside elective surgery centre in partnership with the University of Canberra and expansion of the Canberra Innovation Network, which supports entrepreneurs to CIT Tuggeranong and University of Canberra in Belconnen.

It would continue to support Study Canberra, which promotes Canberra as a safe and inclusive study destination for interstate and international students.

Mr Barr said Labor was committed to supporting our local universities as one of the territory's largest employers.

"A re-elected ACT Labor Government will move quickly to create and implement our Knowledge Capital Plan. This plan builds on our reputation for supporting local innovation, encouraging more students to stay in Canberra when they graduate," he said.

"Our universities are also teaching the hundreds of nurses, allied health professionals and teachers that ACT Labor plans on hiring over the next four years. Our health and education plans rely on a strong and thriving tertiary education sector in the ACT."

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Universities took a massive financial hit when the international student pipeline closed with COVID-19 travel restrictions earlier this year.

The Australian National University has shed 250 jobs this year and has indicated a further 215 jobs will go as part of its recovery plan.

The University of Canberra reduced its budget shortfall from an estimated $32.9 million to $11.9 million for this year through reducing leave liability, cost savings, executive pay cuts, and improving productivity.

Mr Barr said international education was the territory's first billion-dollar export industry, with the sector valued at $1.08 billion in 2019.

The Chief Minister said there would be a focus on the domestic student market in the short term, followed by diversification of the international student market to reduce reliance on Chinese students.

"We've learnt clearly that an over-reliance on international students is a problem for the universities' bottom line but also diversity among their international student population is one way to address that."

He said the focus for the remainder of the year was to repatriate Australians stranded overseas before finding a way for international students to enter the country for the start of semester one next year.