Universities and colleges forced into hard choices

Opinion

Doing more with less really isn’t feasible when it comes to Manitoba’s post-secondary institutions, yet that is exactly the toll the federal government is exacting in the wake of its cap on international student visas last year.

And while there are some bright spots in domestic enrolment, there is a financial gap that has yet to be filled.

Last week, CBC reported that permits for students from abroad to study in Canada fell in the first half of this year, with nearly 90,000 fewer international student permits issued than one year earlier. At the same time, the number of applications for international student visas has also dropped, with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada receiving 302,795 applications in the first half of 2025, compared with 398,675 in the first half of 2024, and 575,535 in the first half of 2023.

Laura Blondeau, a spokesperson for Immigration Minister Lena Diab, told the CBC that these figures proved that the measures put in place by the Liberal government “are working,” and that the agency is “focused on attracting top global talent to help grow our economy.”

We have to wonder if the minister and the department have their Ontario blinders on because outside Ottawa — at least here in Manitoba — these new measures are only serving to hurt universities and colleges that relied upon international student enrolment — and the cash that came with it.

In fact, we find ourselves in agreement with Advanced Education Minister Renée Cable, who called Ottawa’s policy changes a “blunt instrument” that have failed to consider regional needs.

“We’ve really gone to bat for international students,” she told the Sun last week. “They add to the social fabric, to our local workforce and to the diversity of campuses. It’s really unfortunate what has happened.”

We have seen the impact on this province’s post-secondary institutions first hand.

In August, Red River College Polytechnic told CBC that it was expecting near-record enrolment for the second year in a row, but that it wouldn’t be enough to offset financial losses from a drop in international student enrolment.

“It might be an offset in the amount of students that we’re seeing in total, but it certainly is not an offset in the amount of tuition,” president and CEO Fred Meier told “Information Radio” guest host Cory Funk.

“International students pay a higher level of tuition, and we will have a financial impact with less students.”

Just this month, the University of Manitoba announced that domestic student enrolment increased 4.5 per cent — to 5,818 students compared to 5,568 in the 2024 fall term — while international enrolment declined for the second consecutive year. A university news release on Sept. 5 noted that total preliminary international student numbers fell by 5.4 per cent this fall to 6,085, from 6,433 in the 2024 fall term.

That falls in line with expectations voiced in July, when the university cancelled its applied business management program and its courses for the fall semester, a situation that not only prevented domestic and international students from accessing the program, but also forced instructors who provided the program out of work.

Last April, the University of Winnipeg announced the end of its English language program, which had been available to students who wanted to improve oral and written language skills — again attributable to the financial strain of the international student cap.

Patrick Noel, the president of the Manitoba Organization of Faculty Associations, has called for the province to step up in terms of funding for universities, so that universities wouldn’t have to rely on what he called the “international tap.”

“We never know what will happen with international students, and sometimes the government decides to turn off the faucet,” Noel told the Winnipeg Free Press.

Brandon is in the same boat. While domestic numbers have risen, including first-time Indigenous students, international student enrolment at Brandon University has dropped by more than 23 per cent this fall, based on the university’s preliminary numbers.

The trend has also been felt at Assiniboine College, where new international student enrolment was projected to fall by as much as 70 per cent this fall. As a result of the federal education visa cap, the college decided to reduce its culinary arts student intake by half this fall, and to discontinue its baking and hospitality programs.

The reality is that years of chronic post-secondary underfunding has forced universities and colleges to look elsewhere for the financial means to continue providing necessary courses for today’s student population. And that has, unfortunately, included relying on increased rates of international students who pay far more for tuition than domestic students.

While increasing domestic student numbers is of some financial help, it’s clear that these increases will not cover the losses faced by our post-secondary institutions.

What we’re seeing now are the hard choices being made by colleges and universities as a result.