TORONTO — One of Ontario's largest colleges is suspending dozens of programs in the latest round of cuts at post-secondary institutions as the federal government reduces the number of international students in Canada.
Toronto's Centennial College said 49 full-time programs will not accept new students in the 2025-26 academic year, including 16 programs in its business school, 14 programs in its media school and seven programs in its engineering school.
It said the changes will not impact students who are currently enrolled in those programs and they will be able to graduate.
College president and CEO Craig Stephenson said the institution is adapting to changes in the federal government's immigration policy that led to a big drop in international student enrolments, which significantly impacted the school's financial standing.
The college anticipates new international enrolments will decline by 43 per cent in the current academic year, resulting in a loss of nearly 5,000 international students compared to the 2023-24 academic year.
"We are adapting to federal immigration policy changes that have had significant implications for our enrolments and finances within the current provincial funding and policy context," Stephenson said in a statement.
"As we continue to educate students for career success in this new reality, we are adjusting our full-time academic program offerings following a comprehensive, evidence-based review."
Stephenson said job cuts are "unavoidable" amid the program suspensions but the college is making these changes to ensure its long-term sustainability.
Centennial College's announcement comes as colleges and universities across the country face program and staffing cuts after Ottawa's decision early last year to slash the number of international student permits, with Ontario seeing its allotment cut in half.
The federal government announced last September that it would further reduce the cap for this year to 437,000 permits, down from the 2024 target of 485,000. Ottawa's plan means some 300,000 fewer international study permits will be issued over the next few years.
Ontario colleges that have announced program cuts in recent months include Algonquin College, which said it was planning to close its campus in Perth, Ont., by the end of August 2026 due to "unprecedented" financial challenges.
Algonquin College president and CEO Claude Brulé said in a message to the school community on Jan. 9 the institution is projecting a $32 million loss in revenue in the 2024-25 fiscal year and it's anticipating a deficit of $60 million for 2025-26 and $96 million for 2026-27 if no measures were taken to mitigate the budget crunch.
"This is an extremely difficult decision that is not taken lightly and is a direct result of the financial challenges we are facing," he said.
Brulé said the college is also conducting a full review of its programs, administrative and support services to focus resources on its core operations.
"These are the most challenging fiscal times in the college’s history. I understand how morale is being negatively impacted and employees and learners may be feeling concerned and anxious as they await updates," he said.
Sheridan College said in November it was suspending 40 programs including some in applied science and technology, business and animation, but that current students would still be able to graduate. Seneca Polytechnic has temporarily shuttered its Markham, Ont., campus north of Toronto because of an expected decline in student population.
The president of Centennial College said the school will continue to offer 128 full-time programs and admit new students, with the possibility of reintroducing the suspended programs "in the future."
Ontario's post-secondary institutions, especially colleges, turned increasingly to international students after the provincial government cut domestic tuition by 10 per cent in 2019 and froze it there. The province said last year it would keep those tuition rates frozen but announced an additional $1.3 billion in funding for post-secondary institutions over three years.
Many Ontario colleges and universities said they were running deficits and the province's top-up is about half of what they needed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2025.
Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press
