Photo credit: The Tyee
The vice-president of academic, students and international of Coast Mountain College, British Columbia, Titilope Kunkei, has said immigration cuts imposed by the Canadian authorities are hurting small communities.
The Coast Mountain College’s Smithers campus has been running its health-care assistant program for almost six years. The program has provided staff for local hospitals and is a prerequisite for the college’s nursing programs.
Kunkei says, “We’re working to meet the particular employment needs of the communities we serve.
“We’ve been fortunate. With international students, we’ve been able to run more programs.”
However, since January 2024, the federal government has reduced the number of post-secondary students entering Canada by more than a third and restricted work opportunities for graduates.
Some BC colleges that have come to rely on tuition from international students are projecting massive budget shortfalls, planning layoffs and reducing programming.
