Photo credit: Citynews Toronto
Toronto’s Centennial College says it’s suspending a number of programs as it deals with the fallout of the federal government’s cap on international study permits.
CBC reports that the college is putting 49 programs on hold. This includes areas of study like fashion business and management, tourism, construction project ,=management, journalism and advanced television and film. However, students currently enrolled in those programs will be allowed to graduate.
College President Craig Stephenson noted that “difficult decisions for staff reductions are inevitable” with officials expecting new international student enrolments to decline by 43 per cent in the school’s current cycle from the summer of 2024 through the winter of 2025.
The college is only the latest post-secondary institution to face major financial challenges from Ottawa’s crackdown on international study permits, which is aimed to reduce the number of new student visas by more than a third in 2024.
The federal government announced last November that it would slash the number of visas by another 10 per cent. The new target for 2025 and 2026 will be 437,000 permits. In 2024, the target was 485,000 permits.
The provincial government has been given the task of dividing and sharing the permits among post-secondary institutions in the province.
The Ford government’s 2024 budget revealed that Ontario’s colleges will lose out on $3.1 billion in revenue over the next two years from the expected drop in international student enrolment.
