Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ont., suspends 11 programs as schools deal with cap on foreign students

Sarah Law · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 28, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Confederation College successful Thunder Bay, Ont., is suspending 11 world programs owed to declining home enrolment and the national government's caps connected planetary survey permits — joining much than a twelve different schools successful the state contending with fiscal challenges successful portion due to the fact that of the policy.

In announcing the programme suspensions Wednesday, Confederation College cited "a thorough reappraisal of enrolment trends, fiscal show and labour marketplace data."

On Thursday, its president, Michelle Salo, spoke astatine a media event.

"There person been 16 different colleges successful Ontario retired of the 24 Ontario colleges that person precocious suspended programs," Salo said.

"That amounts to much than 300 programs crossed Ontario, a important determination crossed the Ontario assemblage system."

Since the national planetary pupil caps were introduced past year, astir survey licence applicants person been required to taxable a provincial oregon territorial attestation letter.

At Confederation College, that has resulted successful 22 per cent less planetary students this twelvemonth compared to past year — 1,544 provincial attestation letters successful 2025 compared to 1,929 successful 2024.

The suspensions volition interaction 4 per cent of projected incoming home students starting successful September, the assemblage says.

"We utilized to have, successful the autumn intake, astir a 45 per cent planetary ratio. We'll beryllium 25 to possibly adjacent person to 20 per cent of planetary to home students, truthful a important drop," Salo said.

No unit layoffs person been announced astatine this time.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada plans to contented 437,000 survey permits crossed the state successful 2025, a 10 per cent alteration from past year's cap.

With a national predetermination underway, Salo said the assemblage and assemblage partners person been advocating for much support, particularly arsenic the portion looks to capable captious labour marketplace shortages successful cardinal areas.

Suspended programs successful 'high-demand employment areas'

Confederation College draws successful astir 7,000 part-time and full-time students each year. The pursuing programs are being suspended:

• Business — quality resources.
• Business medication — quality resources.
• Culinary management.
• Human assets management.
• International concern management.
• Aerospace manufacturing engineering technician.
• Aerospace manufacturing engineering technology.
• Electronics engineering technician.
• Instrumentation engineering technician — process automation.
• Dental assisting — levels I and II.
• Educational support.

Those already enrolled successful the suspended programs will be capable to implicit their studies. Program suspensions disagree from programme cancellations, successful that they could beryllium reintroduced astatine a aboriginal date.

"Many of these programs are high-demand employment programs, which is the unfortunate portion of having to marque a suspension similar this," said Salo.

"The unfortunate portion is that our home enrolment numbers person been declining for the past decade, and present without the planetary students to assistance enactment a tenable cohort, it's conscionable been unmanageable."

All the programs that person been suspended bash not let post-graduate survey permits for planetary students, thing the assemblage is pushing the national authorities to change.

When asked whether the assemblage has relied excessively heavy connected planetary students to enactment afloat, Salo said "I don't deliberation truthful astatine all."

"The world is that our home numbers person been declining, our colonisation has been declining. We've seen immoderate migration to assemblage versus colleges," said Salo.

"I deliberation our maturation successful our planetary pupil enrolment implicit the past decade is precise overmuch successful enactment with our alteration successful home pupil enrolment implicit that aforesaid time," added Aaron Skillen, vice-president of world astatine the college.

"We stayed wrong an enrolment fig that we've been comfy with present astatine Confederation College for years."

Partnerships with different schools

One mode the assemblage is looking to streamline its offerings is by moving much intimately with different institutions.

Last week, the schoolhouse announced a concern with Seneca Polytechnic, based successful the Greater Toronto Area, which volition absorption connected aviation programming portion besides exploring a imaginable veterinarian technician programme exemplary for the northwest region.

"By leveraging our combined expertise and resources, we tin amended hole career-ready and world-ready graduates who volition code captious accomplishment shortages and enactment the maturation of cardinal industries," said Marianne Marando, vice-president of concern improvement and planetary astatine Seneca Polytechnic, successful a quality merchandise past week.

To conscionable demands, Confederation College is besides introducing different caller programs, including an electrical technician programme successful the fall.

"We're beauteous unfastened to immoderate caller programme ideas that we deliberation some conscionable our section and determination labour marketplace needs, and ideally would person a large involvement from a pupil colonisation standpoint arsenic well," said Skillen.

Keeping the assemblage sustainable

Jamie Taylor is CEO of the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC). While Confederation's programme suspensions are disappointing, she said she isn't amazed the assemblage has had to edifice to this given the fiscal constraints astatine hand.

When it comes to gathering labour needs successful the region, Taylor said she's peculiarly acrophobic astir the interaction of the engineering exertion trades and aviation programme suspensions. 

"It's not lone conscionable astir the assemblage itself," said Taylor. "Bringing radical into our assemblage has a precise beardown economical interaction [on] our assemblage arsenic a whole."

What stands retired to her is the information Confederation College does not get backing from public-private partnerships, arsenic compared to galore different institutions.

"Unfortunately, everyone is treated successful the aforesaid mode successful presumption of [study permit] allocations, and we are suffering due to the fact that of that," she said.

The Thunder Bay CEDC says it volition proceed to advocator for the assemblage astatine some the provincial and national levels, due to the fact that "we privation to spot the investments that they request to beryllium capable to proceed with the programs, and for our assemblage to beryllium sustainable successful our community."