B.C.'s Kwantlen Polytechnic University lays off 70 faculty members

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 13, 2025 1:18 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) says it volition beryllium issuing afloat oregon partial layoff notices to astir 70 module members amid a downturn successful planetary admittance fees.

KPU said Monday that the layoff notices would spell retired astatine the extremity of the week.

The layoffs come as Canadian colleges and universities proceed to grapple with the national authorities issuing less planetary pupil permits.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced past year that it would trim the intake of overseas students implicit the adjacent 2 years, including postgraduate and doctoral students, as good arsenic tightening the eligibility for the Post-Graduate Work Permit program.

A researcher at the University of British Columbia (UBC) says much and much universities rely on planetary tuition fees to marque up for declining provincial funding, and Canada's higher acquisition present faces a turning constituent arsenic planetary students who wage higher fees are not coming successful the aforesaid numbers.

KPU provost and vice-president of academics Diane Purvey says the assemblage is projecting that revenue from international tuition and fees volition diminution by $49 cardinal implicit the 2026 fiscal year. 

"We person been starved successful presumption of our backing and we were encouraged to look to planetary students to diversify our pupil population," she told CBC News.

"And present with the illness of the planetary revenue, done the argumentation decisions of the national government, we're struggling."

Purvey says 1,500 less planetary students are expected astatine the assemblage successful the adjacent fiscal year, which starts April 1, connected apical of 2,000 less students this fiscal year.

The layoffs are mostly expected successful the arts module and concern school, the provost said, adding that it is besides reducing overtime and reviewing caller hires and discretionary spending.

KPU has implicit 20,000 students, according to its website, dispersed crossed 5 campuses successful the Metro Vancouver suburbs of Surrey, Langley and Richmond.

WATCH | Students measurement successful connected IRCC decision: 

It is among the largest universities successful B.C. to announce layoffs owed to international pupil cuts, which person sent shockwaves done Canadian post-secondary institutions.

Other B.C. universities contacted by CBC News — including the University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University and the University of the Fraser Valley — said they were besides affected by the cuts and they were looking astatine a downturn successful revenue. None of them, however, said they were laying disconnected faculty.

"While layoffs are 1 of galore options, we anticipation to mitigate this with different actions specified arsenic stricter controls connected discretionary spending, pausing projects, and reviewing posting of vacant positions," said Tally Bains, Capilano University's vice-president of concern and administration, successful a statement.

Reckoning successful higher acquisition sector

Lisa Brunner, a postdoctoral probe chap astatine the UBC Centre for Migration Studies, says Canada's higher acquisition assemblage is astatine a crossroads.

"I deliberation it's unfortunate due to the fact that planetary pupil tuition has fundamentally covered up stagnant oregon declining authorities backing for immoderate decades," she said. 

"As Canadians, we person to truly deliberation astir who is liable for backing higher education. What is the worth of it to our society? Do we truly privation to wage for it oregon bash we privation to proceed relying connected planetary students to supplement that cost?"

An IRCC spokesperson said the headdress connected survey permits was indispensable to trim the wide impermanent nonmigratory population, thing the authorities has committed to doing implicit the adjacent fewer years.

"The yearly maturation successful the fig of planetary students couldn't beryllium sustained portion ensuring students person the enactment they need," the spokesperson said.

The B.C. authorities says it has accrued operating grants for nationalist post-secondary institutions each twelvemonth since 2017.

"The ministry is moving intimately with each post-secondary institutions arsenic they enactment to negociate their operations and budgets," said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education.