Post-secondary institutions across the province are feeling the pinch from the significant changes announced by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) earlier this year.
Lakehead University saw a 15-per cent decline in new first-semester international student enrolment this fall compared to 2023 and Confederation College saw a 39.2-per cent decrease.
Lakehead University president Gillian Siddall said the school was “very grateful” that the province gave them an allocation last year that would have allowed them to maintain the same number of international student enrolments that they had previously.
“But I think that the reputational hit that Canada has taken because of these international caps is quite significant,” Siddall said. “We know that universities and colleges across the country have seen the impact of that.”
While the financial impact of these enrolment declines can have a direct threat on the sustainability of the university’s programs, Siddall says the school has a number of financial sustainability initiatives currently on the go.
“I have struck a President’s Advisory Committee on financial sustainability with representatives from the board of governors, from senate, from senior administration, faculty and staff, to really delve into strategies that we can consider for either increasing revenue or decreasing costs,” she said.
“That will result in a, in a multi-year plan that, that will help us address these kinds of challenges. There’s no question that post-secondary sector in Ontario is, is struggling and Lakehead is no exception to that.”
Siddall noted that international students bring “such richness” to the learning environment at Lakehead University, other universities, Thunder Bay and to Northwestern Ontario.
She said as students, they fill important labour gaps as they work in various capacities in the city.
“We graduate them from a broad range of programs such as engineering, computer science or business,” she said.
Many of the graduates choose to stay, live, work and have families, and benefit the economic health of Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario, Siddall said.
Siddall pointed out that graduates from Lakehead University’s bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs are all eligible for the post-graduation work permit program.
“The impact for the colleges is different than for universities, and since this cap was, was announced, we’ve worked with the college, with the City of Thunder Bay and the Community Economic Development Commission to advocate together.”
