TORONTO – Continued cuts to the number of international student visas, first under Justin Trudeau’s government and now under Mark Carney’s, is bringing Canadian colleges and universities to their knees.  

“The federal government’s decision to unilaterally proceed with another change impacting international students continues to force post-secondary institutions in Ontario, and across the country, to make difficult decisions regarding their long-term success and sustainability,” Spenser Maki, communication adviser for Ontario Immigration Minister David Piccini, said in an emailed statement to The Canadian Press.

Post-secondary institutions across Canada have already had to cut their budgets due to declining tuition revenue from international students, which tend to be four to five times higher than those paid by domestic students. Maureen Adamson, president of Colleges Ontario, said she expects these cuts to continue.

“The steep decline in federal international study permits will cut up to $2.5 billion from Ontario’s colleges, which have already lost 8,000 jobs and 600 programs. At the same time, Ontario needs 33,000 health-care workers and 154,000 tradespeople in the coming decade,” Adamson said in an email to The Canadian Press.

The government’s latest update on immigration levels essentially halves the projected number of new student visas, bringing it to 155,000 for next year, compared to over 305,000 in last year’s plan. The federal government’s goal is to reduce the number of temporary residents to 5% of the Canadian population by the end of 2027, after peaking at around 7.5% at the end of 2024.

A spokesperson for IRCC ( Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada ) stated, as reported by The Canadian Press, that the student visa cap does not apply to master’s and doctoral students. This exemption from the cap is intended to recognize “their unique contributions to Canada’s economic growth and innovation” the spokesperson said.

Larissa Bezo, president of the Canadian Office for International Education, explains that Ottawa’s strategy appears to be aimed at attracting more “quality students” capable of filling significant economic gaps. The international talent attraction strategy includes a plan to expedite immigration application processing for doctoral students and their families, with the goal of completing their applications within 14 days. Bezo said that making it easier for families of PhD students and researchers to arrive will help make Canada a more attractive destination for highly mobile talent. “I think for those of us in the sector, we fully appreciate these are critical contributors to driving Canada’s innovation and growth agenda at a time when we really need to be leaning into that and further leaning into securing our sovereignty and our future prosperity” she said, adding that while the talent attraction plan is welcome, the federal government should also do more to bring in people in the skilled trades.

Meanwhile, colleges and universities are struggling to survive, as revenues have drastically declined due to the cuts in visas for “normal” international students enacted by the Trudeau and Carney governments. And cuts to programs and, consequently, to Canadian staff at these institutions now seem inevitable.

Photo by Philippe Bout from Unsplash