Ontario’s schools and universities say the federal authorities’s cap on worldwide college students is taking a toll on the upper training sector as some faculties face rising deficits, layoffs and, in at the very least one case, a brief campus closure. St.
Ontario’s schools and universities say the federal authorities’s cap on worldwide college students is taking a toll on the upper training sector as some faculties face rising deficits, layoffs and, in at the very least one case, a brief campus closure.
St. Lawrence Faculty in Kingston, Ont., stated it has eradicated 30 administrative and assist positions and warned of additional job cuts after its international pupil enrolment dropped by 50 per cent.
President and CEO Glenn Vollebregt stated the faculty is collaborating in a provincewide effectivity evaluation that’s anticipated to conclude early subsequent 12 months and as that unfolds, “SLC can’t assure that there will likely be no additional layoffs.”
Nonetheless, the varsity will “proceed hiring positions of every type” — together with a director of Indigenous companies — to make sure it could nonetheless function “effectively,” Vollebregt stated in an announcement.
Mohawk Faculty in Hamilton has additionally advised its workers that layoffs are on the horizon, whereas Seneca Polytechnic will briefly shutter one in all its campuses north of Toronto by the top of the autumn semester.
“Resulting from current selections by the federal authorities associated to worldwide college students, we expect enrolment at Markham Campus to say no,” Seneca stated in an announcement final month, including that college students displaced by the closure will likely be moved to 2 different campuses.
A number of universities say they’re additionally staring down cuts amid monetary uncertainty.
Teams representing post-secondary establishments say this may increasingly simply be the tip of the iceberg, as dramatic drops in worldwide pupil enrolment exacerbate some faculties’ present price range shortfalls.
The federal authorities has stated it should problem roughly 300,000 fewer worldwide pupil permits over the following three years — a transfer that particularly impacts Ontario because it had seen a bigger share of progress in international college students.
Ottawa can be limiting worldwide school college students’ work permits after commencement to areas which have labour-market shortages in Canada.
Whereas the complete impression of those coverage adjustments on schools’ applications and staffing ranges is but to be recognized, early indicators should not wanting good, stated Michael McDonald, director of presidency relations and coverage for Faculties and Institutes Canada.
The group says worldwide college students contributed practically $31 billion to Canada’s financial system and supported greater than 360,000 jobs in 2022.
However round 70 per cent of applications schools presently provide are deemed ineligible for post-graduation work permits, McDonald stated. Near $2 billion in income is probably in danger as worldwide pupil enrolment declined by 54 per cent throughout the nation, he added.
McDonald stated some schools have already initiated “workforce changes,” whereas others are contemplating the identical.
“We all know there’s lots of … anxiousness and concern within the system proper now and sadly, there’s not lots of readability,” he stated.
Sean Coffey, director of communications and particular occasions at Mohawk Faculty, stated the varsity is projecting a $50-million deficit for the 2025/26 educational 12 months, which makes job cuts inevitable.
“There will likely be layoffs, however we don’t have numbers at this level,” he stated. “The impression will likely be felt throughout all the school and never restricted to at least one space.”
Algonquin Faculty, which has campuses in Ottawa and the Ottawa Valley, stated it’s dealing with a $32-million income loss resulting from a drop in worldwide pupil enrolment.
“We have projected that for this 12 months, our precise enrolment will fall wanting what we had projected a couple of 12 months in the past by about 2,400 college students,” stated Claude Brulé, the faculty’s president and CEO.
“All establishments which have recruited internationally can have skilled an impression of some type to a lesser or larger degree relying on how intently they had been recruiting internationally,” he stated in a telephone interview.
He stated whereas Algonquin is within the midst of conversations about potential job cuts, no selections have but been made. However the school’s government staff has been tasked with lowering company bills and reviewing all hiring and staffing selections, he stated.
The monetary challenges come amid ongoing negotiations between OPSEU, a union representing 15,000 professors, instructors, librarians and counsellors, and the Faculty Employer Council over wages, workloads, and job stability. Union members voted final month in favour of a strike if bargaining fails.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not reply questions in regards to the impression of declining worldwide pupil enrolment on schools and universities. But it surely stated measures taken by the federal authorities had been vital to cut back the variety of non permanent residents within the nation and to ensure faculties can adequately assist their international college students.
“The annual progress within the variety of worldwide college students couldn’t be sustained whereas making certain college students obtain the assist they want,” stated IRCC spokesperson Isabelle Dubois.
Ontario’s universities are additionally feeling the results of the examine allow cap, regardless that fewer than 20 per cent of their college students come from abroad.
The College of Windsor stated it’s dealing with a $10-million shortfall this 12 months, which is projected to extend to $30 million subsequent 12 months partially resulting from worldwide pupil limits and a home tuition freeze that is been in place since 2019.
“We will anticipate layoffs. They’re going to be instant, they’re going to be ongoing, and they’re going to have an effect on each class of staff on the college,” Clinton Beckford, vice-president of individuals, fairness, and inclusion, advised college workers at a city corridor assembly final week.
In Ottawa, Carleton College stated it had initially estimated its 2024-25 working price range deficit could be $26 million, however the projection is now “considerably greater” because the variety of its worldwide undergraduate and graduate college students have declined by 55 and 35 per cent respectively.
Steve Orsini, president and CEO of the Council of Ontario Universities, stated universities are dealing with monetary losses of $300 million this 12 months, that are projected to double subsequent 12 months resulting from a declining worldwide pupil inhabitants.
“You are going to see hiring freezes and layoffs because of this,” he stated in an interview. “You are going to see applications and companies changing into much less frequent obtainable to college students, whether or not it is teaching, mentoring, and the demand for psychological well being will likely be tougher to satisfy sooner or later.”
Universities had been already struggling financially and they’re now seeing a “double whammy impact” with the lack of income international college students introduced, he stated.
Orsini referred to as on the province to extend working grants for universities and carry the funding cap for home college students to assist universities to confess extra highschool graduates.
“The sector is at a vital juncture, and with out extra assist, Ontario dangers not having the very important expertise and analysis wanted to foster financial progress and prosperity,” he stated in assertion.
A spokesperson for the Minister of Faculties and Universities Nolan Quinn stated funding for post-secondary establishments is “greater than it is ever been,” pointing to $1.3 billion Ontario introduced earlier this 12 months to “stabilize” the sector.
Dayna Smockum additionally stated that selections associated to job cuts and staffing “lie solely” with schools and universities and that the province “won’t put extra prices on the backs of scholars and households by elevating tuition.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Nov. 22, 2024.
Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press
