'There's a lot of concern in the system right now and, unfortunately, there's not a lot of clarity'
The federal government’s cap on its intake of international students has already led to layoffs at some schools in Ontario, according to a report from The Canadian Press (CP).
St. Lawrence College in Kingston has eliminated 30 administrative and support positions and has warned that there will be further workforce reductions after its foreign student enrolment dropped by 50%, according to the report posted on CTV News.
Mohawk College in Hamilton has also told its staff about upcoming layoffs.
In the far worse case, Seneca Polytechnic has said it will temporarily close one of its Markham campus by the end of the fall semester “due to recent decisions by the federal government related to international students,”
Previously, both Universities Canada and Colleges and Institutes Canada called on the federal government to pivot from its cap on the intake of international students put in place earlier this year.
“It’s quite clear that there’s been a very significant and substantial decrease in enrolment across the country,” Michael McDonald, director of government relations for Colleges and Institutes Canada, told Global News in September.
Early signs are not looking good, and what’s happening right now is just the tip of the iceberg, said McDonald in the CP report.
The full impact of these policy changes on colleges' programs and staffing levels is yet to be known, he said, according to the report.
International students contributed nearly $31 billion to Canada's economy and supported more than 360,000 jobs in 2022, the Colleges and Institutes Canada noted, according to the CP report.
However, around 70% of programs colleges currently offer are deemed ineligible for post-graduation work permits, McDonald said. With this, colleges could potentially lose $2 billion in revenue as international student enrolment declined by 54% across the country, he added.
And while some colleges have already initiated "workforce adjustments," others are considering doing the same thing.
"We know there's a lot of ... anxiety and concern in the system right now and unfortunately, there's not a lot of clarity," McDonald said, according to CP.
In January, the federal government put a cap on roughly 360,000 approved international student applications for 2024, a decrease of 35% from 2023. That number has since been revised with about 292,000 approved permits anticipated, according to Global News.
The federal government also announced further reductions in the number of people it welcomes into Canada by reducing its intake cap on international student study permits for the next two years.
By next year, the government will issue 437,000 international student study permits, down 10% from the 2024 target of 485,000 new study permits issued. That limit will remain for 2026.
