Post-secondary schools are cutting programs across Ontario. Should it be a bigger election issue?
Mark Kirkpatrick, president of Belleville, Ont., based Loyalist College, says he’s seen better times, as budget constraints have forced his school to cut 24 programs, or 30 per cent of all programs offered.
“We’ve had to make some extremely difficult decisions here at the college,” he said.
Loyalist, like many colleges across the province, had relied on tuition from international students to subsidize a lot of the domestic delivery of its programs. But federal policy changes that limited international student enrolment have impacted post-secondary school funding and led to major program cuts at schools across the country, particularly those in Ontario.
Yet some observers question if this issue has received the attention it deserves during this Ontario election campaign, and ask whether party leaders are offering any workable solutions to stem the loss of these programs.
‘Not sure that that message has gotten through’
Kirkpatrick says local party candidates do realize the significance of the issue, but as for the party leaders: “Provincially, I don’t hear a lot of discussion about it,” he said.
“I’m not sure that that message has gotten through from a provincial perspective.”
Alex Usher, president of Higher Education Strategy Associates, a consultant group focused on post-secondary education, said that during this campaign, he was surprised that college closures haven’t generated as much controversy as he would have expected.
“I think we’re going to end up with over 1,000 program closures at the college level in this province,” he told CBC’s Metro Morning earlier this week. “There are going to be a lot fewer choices for Ontario students going forward.”
Workers at colleges are holding rallies across Ontario, calling for more provincial funding for what they say is a crisis. Colleges are cutting courses to save money and universities are also grappling with the same issues.Those affected would like to see it be a more prominent election issue. CBC Queen’s Park reporter Lorenda Reddekopp has more.
Ontario provides the lowest level of funding per pupil in Canada, according to a 2021 auditor general report. To make up that shortfall, colleges and universities have increased their intake of international students because they pay a higher tuition rate. Across 24 public colleges, 68 per cent of all tuition fee revenue comes from international students, according to that report.
But last September, citing concerns that population growth was putting pressure on the rental market, the federal government announced it would slash the number of international student visas it issues by 10 per cent. For 2025, Ontario recorded a 23 per cent drop in international post-secondary applications, the government announced last month.
York University suspends programs
With fewer international students, some schools have announced the suspension of dozens of programs. Colleges across Ontario, including St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Algonquin College in Ottawa, and Centennial College and Seneca College in Toronto have all announced cuts.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, York University became the first university to announce program suspensions. Rallies were also held at colleges across the province this week to protest cuts to classes and programs.
Louis Volante, an educational studies professor at Brock University in St. Catharines, said Ontario’s per-pupil funding, with caps on international students and the “corridor funding” model, which caps the number of domestic students, has created the “perfect tsunami.”
But he says the response to these issues from the Ontario political parties has been somewhat predictable: “Quite muted and obscure sort of policy positions.”
As well, he noted that none of the parties have released a fully costed platform for funding post-secondary eduction.
Post-secondary institutions say they are projected to lose hundreds of millions of dollars with new international student caps they warn jobs and student programs could be at risk if governments don’t boost funding.
The issue did come up briefly in the party leaders’ debate in Toronto. Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford reiterated that his government has increased funding by $1.3 billion over three years in response to the federal government’s cuts to international student visas.
But Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner countered that this increase wouldn’t even be enough to make up the losses from international students.
On Friday, the Liberals, NDP and Green Party released their policy platforms, which did include some general promises for post-secondary institutions.
The Liberal platform called for a cap on international student enrolment at 10 per cent for each Ontario college but a promise to “fund colleges and universities fairly to help them avoid being heavily dependent on international student enrolment.”
Both the NDP and Green Party said they would increase per student funding by 20 per cent and tie future increases to inflation.
New federal limits on international student enrolments are prompting deep cuts at cash-starved post-secondary institutions, with some Ontario community colleges forced to scrap dozens of programs.
Ontarians need to be invested in funding issue, prof says
While voters may focused on the threat of tariffs and issues like health care and affordable housing, Volante said Ontarians should be completely invested in what’s going on at the post-secondary level.
He said research shows that education systems that are strong also lead to a strong economy and that the province has a responsibility to build up the knowledge economy,
“And the only way you could do that, the only way you can look at innovation in this province is through our post-secondary system, both college and university,” he said.
Kirkpatrick says Loyalist is helping to develop the skilled workforce, making it attractive for industry to build in the area.
“We’re the engine that drives the skilled workforce. We’re the engine that actually improves the skilled workforce,” he said, noting Loyalist is situated in a rural area of the province with no other post secondary institutions around.
He says the cuts to post-secondary programs mean “it’s not just the college that is going to feel the impact, it’s this entire region that’s going to feel the impact.”
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