Faculty fear B.C. post-secondary layoffs could leave students paying more for less
Daily Hive (August 29, 2025)
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.
B.C. post-secondary schools cutting more jobs amid declining international student revenue
CBC British Columbia (August 28, 2025)
‘Wake-up call’: Decline of international students forces layoffs, program suspensions at B.C. schools
Vancouver Sun (August 28, 2025)
Brent Calvert, president of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of B.C., calls the decline a “wake-up call” for the sector.
Calvert says the trend shows that shrinking federal and provincial support, combined with heavy reliance on higher international tuition, is putting the financial sustainability of colleges and universities at risk.
“Some form of program suspension or review is happening at every institution to offset the government’s lack of funding by raising tuition for new students,” said Calvert.
He is now urging provincial and federal governments to step in with targeted funding to help the sector recover from the steep drop in international tuition revenue.
“If nothing is done, these cuts will just continue to worsen,” Calvert said.
KPU set to lay off more staff as international student enrolment plunges
CBC British Columbia (August 28, 2025)
B.C. colleges slash faculty
The Jas Johal Show (August 28, 2025)
KPU and Langara to lay off more staff after number of international students drops
CityNews (August 27, 2025)
The President of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC says there are a number of factors impacting schools, but the government needs to step in to help guide and support the sector with targeted funds.
“What’s been happening is that post-secondary has been operating on the international student fees for quite a few years, and it’s masked some of the problems with post-secondary public funding that have been taking place,” explained Calvert.
“So now that that is gone, that has been exposed,” he added.
Calvert says the federation will continue to advocate for funding reviews and what the future landscape of the sector could look like given these changes.
Job cuts loom at B.C. post-secondary institutions due to international student visa cap
Global News (August 27, 2025)
The federal government’s cap on international student visas is translating into staff cuts at at least two Lower Mainland post-secondary schools.
Ottawa implemented the cap in 2024, citing pressure on housing, health-care and other services.
Kwantlen Polytechnic University is expecting about 2,360 international students this fall, down almost 60 per cent from last year.
Foreign students typically pay four to five times more than Canadian students to study at B.C. post-secondary institutions.
Schools are now feeling the bite.
In a notice to faculty, Kwantlen said it was expecting a $5-million to $10-million drop in revenue for its 2025-26 budget.
The school said that funding gap will translate into the loss of about 40 to 45 full-time positions.
“We anticipate that between early retirements and departments and the dry-up of contract work, this might represent 10-20 per cent of the entire faculty workforce,” said Mark Diotte, president of the Kwantlen Faculty Association.
Diotte said the cuts would have been higher, but they were able to save some jobs through layoff mitigation measures like early retirement and job sharing.
Langara College, meanwhile, said it expects to see 2,400 fewer students than two years ago — enough to shrink its overall student body by 20 per cent.
More layoffs coming to B.C. university amid steep drop in international students
Daily Hive (August 27, 2025)
“This latest announcement represents a profound moment for KPU,” said Mark Diotte, president of the Kwantlen Faculty Association (KFA), to Daily Hive. “With the eight new layoff notices, combined with retirements and the drying up of contract work, we estimate that between 10 to 20 per cent of KPU’s faculty complement may be lost.
“That scale is unprecedented at KPU and will directly affect students through fewer course options, reduced program capacity, and longer times to graduate.”
KFA has launched a “Protect Education, Protect Communities” campaign calling on both federal and provincial governments to step up.
“Ottawa must fix immigration processing and stabilize funding in the fall federal budget, and Victoria must protect public universities and direct resources where they’re needed,” added Diotte.
“What’s missing is real provincial leadership. Ontario moved quickly with approximately $1.3 billion contingency fund to stabilize its universities. In B.C., despite a $4 billion contingency fund, the government has offered no equivalent support. Instead, we’re told to ‘restructure,’ which in practice just means layoffs and lost union jobs.”
Diotte also stated that B.C.’s students, future workforce, and economy will pay the price if there isn’t investment in public education.
“For students and the community, this isn’t just about jobs — it’s about the quality and accessibility of education. B.C.’s own Labour Market Outlook shows 1.12 million job openings in the next decade, three-quarters of which will require post-secondary education. Shrinking university capacity now is completely at odds with those needs.”
KPU set to lay off more staff as international student enrolment plummets
Vancouver Sun (August 26, 2025)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University has announced plans for another round of staff cuts — the equivalent of up to 45 more full-time positions — in an effort to balance its books in the face of dropping international enrolment.