At college campuses across BC, students, faculty, and administrators may want to heed Captain Kirk’s old warning in Star Trek and “Brace for impact!”
Students returning to classes after the Christmas break will face a rapidly changing environment, with uncertainty on the horizon, as administrators face the unwelcome prospect of having to slash millions of dollars from operating budgets and lay off hundreds of faculty and staff.
It’s all because of an expected drop in enrolment following federal and provincial restrictions on international students.
Under pressure to curb immigration because of housing shortages, rising rents, and an overburdened health system, the federal government enacted a series of changes that will drastically reduce the number of foreign students at Canadian colleges and universities.
Last January, minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Marc Miller, announced a two-year cap on permits for international students, and pledged the government would reduce the number of permits by 35 per cent. He announced another 10 per cent cut in September.
Then, in October, the minister unveiled a policy that will make it more difficult for international students at Canadian colleges to get work permits after graduating.
Back in January, the federal minister was blunt in describing what’s been going on at some campuses, particularly small, private institutions he characterizes as “the diploma equivalent of puppy mills.”
Miller is not blaming the students, but rather a few “bad actors” who exploit them: “It’s not acceptable that some private institutions have taken advantage of international students by operating under-resourced campuses, lacking supports for students and charging high tuition fees, all the while significantly increasing their intake of international students.”
“It’s not acceptable that some private institutions have taken advantage of international students.”
Marc Miller
Days after Miller’s initial announcement in January, the B.C. government followed up with its own limited restrictions, including suspending approval of any new post-secondary institutions seeking international students until February 2026, to “eliminate exploitative practices and improve the quality of post-secondary education.”
Then, in June, the province released further restrictions on international student enrolment, capping their numbers to 30 per cent of the total population at public institutions.
At the time, there were 175,000 international students province-wide, in a total student body of 545,000. Of the students from foreign countries, about 94,000 were attending private post-secondary institutions.
International students already enrolled in Canadian institutions can complete their studies. But for those abroad still pondering their future, this country may be seen as a less attractive option. At some campuses, applications from overseas are already dropping.
College administrators in B.C. are reluctant to speculate about the impact. But one expert says the impact will be “carnage” at campuses across Canada.
‘There’s going to be pain’
“This is a major shift, and there’s going to be pain,” former BC NDP education minister, Paul Ramsey, told Northern Beat.
Ramsey has seen the issue from all sides: as an instructor at the College of New Caledonia in Prince George, as a faculty association president, and later as a northern MLA and cabinet minister.
It would be easy to point the finger at the federal government, which first welcomed international students with more visas, and then, over the past year, changed direction. But it’s more complex than that according to Ramsey, who says the feds didn’t open the doors to more international students out of the goodness of their hearts.
“The colleges were asking them to do it, and one of the reasons the colleges were asking to do it was that the provinces weren’t funding them sufficiently.”
“The provinces weren’t funding [colleges] sufficiently.”
Paul Ramsey
Whatever the reason, the number of international students at Canadian universities and colleges has soared over the past 25 years – from about 40,000 in the late 1990s to a peak of more than a million students at the end of 2023.
Ramsey says this is “gravy” for universities and colleges in Canada.
International students pay far higher tuition fees than domestic students, often three or four times as much, with some Canadian institutions charging up to eight times more. A portion of that disparity relates to the actual cost of post-secondary. Provincial and federal governments subsidize upwards of half the tuition costs for domestic students, while foreign students must foot the whole bill themselves.
As well, tuition fee hikes for domestic students in B.C. are capped at two per cent a year. For international students, there is no cap.
“The colleges saw that and decided to take advantage of it,” Ramsey says.
“There are several post-secondary institutions who… are willing to expand spots [to] infinity to accommodate students.”
Alex Usher
In 2023, about 51 per cent of international students in Canada were enrolled in Ontario and 19.5 per cent in B.C.
Conestoga College in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, recorded a whopping $252 million surplus attributed to the boom in international students.
At Cape Breton University, in a chronically depressed part of the Maritimes, the student body is 76 per cent international, mostly from India. An economic shot-in-the-arm, it’s also led to a housing shortage so acute some students commute from Halifax, more than 400 kilometres away. Last week, the university president announced a 20 per cent cut in the operating budget.
Thousands of job losses expected in BC
For universities and colleges like those in Cape Breton and other smaller communities, the enrolment caps could cripple a local economy.
“The carnage will be immediate and catastrophic in Ontario colleges, immediate and severe in colleges elsewhere, and slow-moving but severe in universities,” according to Alex Usher, the president of Higher Education Strategy Associates, a consulting firm in Toronto.
In an online post in November, Usher predicts international enrolment in Canadian colleges and universities will drop 70 to 80 per cent from 2023 levels.
He estimates at least 9,000 full-time jobs will be lost at colleges in Ontario, and 3,000 in the rest of Canada, mostly in B.C.
“The carnage will be immediate and catastrophic.”
Alex Usher
The fallout will be widespread.
B.C.’s 11 public colleges have campuses in all corners of the province, including small communities such as Ucluelet, Hazelton, and Vanderhoof.
Camosun College in Victoria and Okanagan College in Kelowna, among the larger colleges, have both confirmed cuts are coming. Camosun will have to trim its budget by $5 million and has warned faculty and staff to expect layoffs.
Okanagan College anticipates a 70 per cent drop in international students next year and expects to cancel up to 15 contracts for part-time instructors.
In Prince George, the College of New Caledonia has campuses in six locations. Previously, full-time equivalent international students comprised as much as 40 per cent of the enrolment. Administration is warning of impending cuts to programs and staff.
On smaller community campuses in the interior and the north, there are few details so far about specific program and job losses, and administrators are reluctant to speak on the record, choosing instead to release cautious written statements.
The word “significant” comes up again and again, and one representative described the situation as “complex and fluid.”
Some colleges will lose millions
At Coast Mountain College, which has campuses in Smithers, Prince Rupert, Hazleton, and Terrace, international students typically make up between 18 and 25 per cent of its student body.
“We expect the number of international students attending Coast Mountain College to decline significantly in the 2025/26 academic year due to the effects of federal government policy, and as existing students graduate,” according to a statement released by the executive director of external relations, Heather Bastin.
“At this time, we have not had to make any major changes to programming or college services, but we will be watching over the next months to determine if changes are required.”
Then there’s Selkirk College in the West Kootenay. Based in Castlegar, it has eight campuses throughout the region, with three branches in Nelson, and others in Trail, Grand Forks, Kaslo, and Nakusp.
Like Coast Mountain, Selkirk is a respected institution with deep roots in the communities it operates.
“Recent changes in federal immigration policy have forced a massive shift in the Canadian post-secondary sector, by restricting the number of international students we can recruit,” says Selkirk president, Dr. Maggie Matear, in an open letter posted in November on the college’s website.
“This will have an impact on our college, students and employees and on the communities we serve.”
“Recent changes in federal immigration policy have forced a massive shift in the Canadian post-secondary sector.”
Maggie Matear
Selkirk had 760 international students in the 2023/24 school year, about 33 per cent of the total population.
Matear’s letter anticipates a drop in enrolment that will necessitate reduced programming.
“Equally important, we’ll experience a loss in the diversity, vibrance and cross-cultural exposure that international students bring.”
Matear urges business leaders to write the federal immigration minister saying, “these top-down changes do not take into account the value that international college graduates bring to the community, nor the vital role that Selkirk College plays as a community training and innovation hub.”
Selkirk’s tuition fee schedule reveals the problem.
Domestic students pay $8,000 for a two-year accounting program in the school of business, versus $30,000 for international students. International students in the two-year culinary arts program pay more than $37,000, compared to about $10,000 for tuition and other fees for Canadian students.
A loss of even a couple of hundred students equals a multi-million dollar hit.
Work permit restrictions will hit colleges especially hard
Takaia Larsen, Selkirk’s faculty association president, says she’s seen projections of a 40 to 60 per cent drop in international students for 2025, putting the business and hospitality programs in jeopardy.
The new federal government policy in October tightened eligibility requirements for postgraduate work permits, which is the long-term goal for many who come to Canada to study.
University graduates continue to be eligible for three-year work permits, but college graduates must be trained in sectors where the government has identified long–term labour shortages: in agriculture and agri-food, health care, the STEM sector (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), trade, and transport.
Tourism, hospitality, and business – the programs that attract the most international college students – are not prioritized.
Nearly half of all international students in Canadian colleges in 2023 were enrolled in business courses, according to a survey by Higher Education Strategy Associates.
“Business has always been the leading area for enrolments, but this field has shot up enormously in the last few years, “says Alex Usher.
College level business courses will no longer be a ticket to a work permit for international students.
“It’s really a huge concern for all of us and our instructors here, because the students are the reason that we’re here, and this is a huge amount of stress on them,” says Larsen at Selkirk.
Federal policies favour universities, say stakeholders
B.C. college administrators and faculty are openly resentful of federal policies they feel favour universities.
“[Immigration Minister Marc Miller’s] bias against colleges couldn’t be more obvious,” says Colin Ewart, former president of BC Colleges.
“Once again, colleges are taking the hit – framed as the least valuable post-secondary option,” Ewart writes in a media commentary published this fall.
“It’s a damaging characterization when communities across British Columbia are starved for skilled professionals in all sectors. B.C.’s colleges prepare graduates for careers building homes, working in hospitals and long-term care homes, growing businesses and developing new technologies. They have jobs in aviation, education, tourism and municipalities – the list goes on.”
“Once again, colleges are taking the hit.”
Colin Ewart
In the Kootenays, business leaders are concerned the impact of the cap “will be extremely significant,” says Tom Thomson, the executive director Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce.
“The number of international students that are here at Selkirk College and the number of positions that these students fill within our business community has been just astronomical since Covid.”
Thomson says international students fill a lot of food and beverage jobs, work in retail and service industries, and in hospitality and tourism. “Nelson is extremely vibrant when it comes to the food and beverage industry. We pride ourselves on the fact we’re got one of the best culinary experiences in British Columbia, especially for a rural community.
“So, when you look at the number of people that are employed from the culinary program at Selkirk College directly into one of those kitchens, it’s going to be really, really impactful.”
The Nelson Chamber of Commerce has written the federal immigration minister urging him to reconsider the cuts and policy changes.
So have community leaders in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, the heart of petroleum country in northeast B.C., where Northern Lights College offers courses such as welding, heavy mechanical trades, and oil and gas field operations, as well as business, education, and health.
“Our region is deeply affected by the challenges of attracting and retaining skilled workers to industries and professions critical to the local economy and the well-being of our community,” says a letter signed by Dawson Creek Mayor, Darcy Daber.
At least one of every 15 local jobs is supported by Northern Lights students and activities, writes Daber. An estimated 59 per cent of the college’s international graduates stay in the region, “becoming a crucial part of the local labour force.”
Dream of citizenship drives demand
Caught in the crossfire are the international students, a point that’s making headlines in India.
The Times of India noted that Indian students form the largest single group of international students in Canada and linked federal enrolment restrictions to “a strain in diplomatic relations” between the two countries, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian government operatives of playing a role in the assassination of a Sikh activist in Canada.
In online forums, some Indian commentators echoed the concerns of Canadians about this country’s ability to absorb so many international students. A reader in Bangalore said, “Good decision by Canada. Most students go there not to study, but to scrape through and stay in Canada.”
“Most students go there not to study, but to scrape through and stay in Canada.”
The Times of India reader
The story is one of supply meeting demand, writes Alex Usher.
“In Punjab… there are a lot of poor families who want their sons and daughters to go abroad to make a new life. In Canada, there are several post-secondary institutions who, a) can provide a pathway to permanent residency if a student graduates from a two-year program, and b) are willing to expand spots [to] infinity to accommodate students wanting to take this path.”
In his research, Usher notes that international students in Canadian universities, “tilt male, are increasingly from China, and study in a variety of disciplines, with some preference towards science, engineering and business.”
At colleges, international students are predominantly male, increasingly and overwhelmingly from India, and cluster in business programs.
Usher says while students from China may have wealthy families who can afford the higher tuition, it’s different for those from India, mainly Punjab, “whose families are mortgaging everything in order for a shot at getting their kids Canadian citizenship.”
Here in B.C., former education minister Paul Ramsey agrees.
“There are tragic stories all over the world, and I hate to say it, but Canada, the provinces and our institutions have been complicit in that.”
There’s no promise of help from Victoria.
In a written response, the provincial Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills notes the importance of the sector to the economy, the impact of the federal government’s unilateral cap on international students, and that the B.C. government has increased its operating grants to post-secondary institutions by $1 billion since 2016.
“We remain committed to working with public post-secondary institutions and engaging with the federal government as our public institutions navigate these financially challenging times,” says the ministry statement, making no mention of the restrictions on enrolment enacted by the B.C. government.
Ramsey sums up where the responsibility lies: “I blame the provincial government for under-funding, blame the federal government for somehow leading people to believe that international students would always be there, and blame the colleges, who are shortsighted and simply believe the myth that there will always be an endless supply of students from wherever.
“None of those things have really helped. And add them together and you’ve got the current mess.”
Note: This article was updated Jan. 10 to clarify B.C. government’s two-year pause on approval of new post-secondary institutions recruiting international students.