Faculty fear B.C. post secondary layoffs could leave students paying more for less

Layoffs are sweeping across B.C.’s post-secondary institutions as international student enrolments, once a lifeline for college budgets, continue to drop following Ottawa’s cap.

Faculty warn that the cuts could delay graduations, shrink course options, and leave students paying more for less.

Daily Hive reached out to several institutions in Metro Vancouver to learn how the changes are reshaping staffing and classroom conditions.

The financial crunch stems largely from Ottawa’s decision earlier this year to cap international student permits, which many colleges had relied on for revenue after decades of stagnant government funding.

Institutions are now scrambling to make up the shortfall.

Daily Hive previously reported that Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) issued layoff notices to roughly 70 faculty earlier this year, citing a “sharp decline” in international student enrolment.

The university said it welcomed 2,000 fewer international students in the current fiscal year, with another 1,500 fewer expected next year, a drop linked directly to Ottawa’s two-year cap on study permits and new visa restrictions.

At Douglas College, several positions have already been eliminated since 2024.

Outgoing faculty association president Matthew Larson told Daily Hive on Friday that while the numbers may seem small, the impact is “much bigger.”

“For us, this is not just a number, because faculty are mentors,” Larson told Daily Hive.

“That means courses without continuity, and students without the skilled and experienced guidance that they deserve. Faculty stability is student stability.”

The sharpest effects are being felt in the Commerce and Business Administration department, but Larson stressed that “no department is isolated.”

Langara and KPU hit harder

Langara College has already cut 69 continuing faculty positions.

Oleg Mayorov/Shutterstock

Association president Pauline Greaves informed Daily Hive that whole programs in the humanities, English, and business could be lost.

She’s urging the province to let the college use its $120-million reserve, money generated from international tuition, to stabilize operations and bring back a funding review for the sector.

Over at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the scale is even larger.

Kwantlen Faculty Association President Mark Diotte told Daily Hive that 42 faculty members will be laid off by the end of August, with another eight notices issued last week. 

“When universities cut courses and faculty, students wait longer to graduate, pay more, and the whole province loses trained workers,” Diotte told Daily Hive.

“That’s the real cost of government inaction.”

He pointed out that Ontario recently put $1.4 billion into its universities to deal with Ottawa’s cap on international students, while B.C., with a $4-billion contingency fund, hasn’t committed any emergency funding.

“This isn’t a plan. It’s abandonment,” he said.

VCC: “Embarrassing” reliance on tuition

At Vancouver Community College, faculty association president Frank Cosco said more than 150 positions have been cut, about 20 to 25 per cent of staff, since July 2024.

He called Canada’s heavy reliance on international tuition “embarrassing” and said both Ottawa and Victoria have failed to plan for long-term stability.

“Many colleges around B.C. are in the red,” Cosco told Daily Hive.

“The province told institutions for 25 years there would be no more money, and to make it up with international students. Now that those students are gone, there is no replacement funding.”

Cosco wants a new national funding model that also includes contributions from industries that benefit from trained graduates.

“This is not just a simple funding issue,” he said. “It’s an investment in the workforce and the economy.”

Across B.C., faculty say they’re heartbroken watching colleagues lose jobs they love, and worried about the students left behind.

“I am hopeful that the provincial and federal governments will do more to support education,” Larson said.

“Supporting education means better quality of programming and accessibility to courses. We need stability.”

Provincial response

In a statement to Daily Hive, Jessie Sunner, Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills, acknowledged the mounting pressures facing B.C.’s colleges and universities.

“Post-secondary institutions across B.C. are facing significant financial pressures due to a number of factors outside of their control, including ongoing impacts of unilateral changes by the federal government to policies affecting international students-changes that have had direct impacts for institutions’ overall enrollment and revenues,” Sunner said in an email.

She added that the province has “repeatedly raised concerns with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada about the lack of consultation and the impact of abrupt policy shifts,” stressing the need for improved collaboration to support both sustainable talent development and international student retention, particularly in rural communities.

“Our ministry is aware of the layoffs occurring at post-secondary institutions and recognizes the impact they have on affected staff and the broader campus community. We remain in close contact with the institutions,” Sunner said.

She also said that the ministry will continue working closely with colleges and universities “as they seek to return to more stable financial footing” and thanked institutions for “working hard to minimize the impact of budget decisions as much as possible.”

Students stuck waiting

For students, the fallout means delays, debt, and stress.

“Every cancelled class is a delayed graduation, which means one fewer nurse in the ER, one fewer apprentice on the job site, one fewer early childhood educator in a childcare centre,” Cole Reinbold, secretary-treasurer of the BC Federation of Students, told Daily Hive in an interview.

Reinbold said the federation wants the province to restore operating funding so that at least 75 per cent of budgets are stable, instead of being left to rise and fall with enrolment.

“The government knows that over 70 per cent of job postings in the next 10 years will require post-secondary education,” they said.

“We need to fund education like the public good that it is.”

With files from Daniel Chai

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