More faculty positions are being reduced in postsecundaria schools throughout BC, such as Langara College and the Kwantlen Polytechnic University, as a result of new government policies that reduce the number of international students.
The faculty associations denounce the wave of departures, saying that they are weakening postsecundaria education in the province and leaving schools with few options to replace income.
“It is the biggest crisis in the postsecundaria,” Frank Cosco, president of the Vancouver Community College (VCC) faculty (VCC) on Thursday.
“And this is a real frustration. It has not been recognized as such. What will replace the international income of students, what universities have depended on?”
Cosco told CBC News that VCC is ready to reduce more than two dozen positions in early 2026. The school has not confirmed, but said in a statement that it is in negotiations with the staff.
Meanwhile, the Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) said in an internal memorandum for staff that plans to eliminate about 45 positions in March 2026 and has already eliminated 20 vacancies. He also issued notices to eight instructors in his Melville School of Business, a popular program for international students.
Lanagara College confirmed that he has eliminated 69 positions after losing 2,400 international students compared to the drop in 2023.
“To adapt to a lower registration, we have had no choice but to advance with the difficult process of reducing our total employees,” said Dr. Paula Burns, president and executive director of Langara College, in a statement.
“It’s not just about roles, these are colleagues and friends who have given our community so much, and say goodbye is incredibly difficult.”
The Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) of BC has announced plans for another round of employee cuts, due to the continuous international registration of international students. The president of the Faculty Association of KPU, Mark Dette, said it is demoralizing for the staff to see their co -workers being fired.
Employment losses are associated with the changes announced by the federal government in January 2024 to reduce the number of international students allow Canada’s problems by 35 percent for two years to help with the country’s housing crisis and address abuses in the international student sector.
In July 2024, the BC government limited the number of international students that public post -secondary educational institutions could accept 30 percent of its total registration. It issued new guidelines for post -secondary institutions to follow the limit, which is monitoring to ensure that the rules are followed.
Faculty associations say that although reforms may be necessary, they should not come at the expense of schools, which, according to governments, were encouraged for years to follow international students to help reinforce income.
“Both levels of government, provincial and federal, created this situation through their own policies,” said the Association of Faculty of Colleges of Vancouver Community on its website, where you request a list of interventions.
“Challenging times,” says the minister
In a statement, the Minister of Postsecundaria Education of BC and future skills, Jessie Sunner, said that post -secondary institutions throughout the province “face significant financial pressures due to a series of factors outside their control.”
Sunner says that his ministry is monitoring the situation and maintaining close contact with schools like KPU.
“Our ministry will continue to work closely with the institution, since it seeks to return to a more stable financial base, and with all post -secondary institutions while working to administer their operations and budgets through these financially challenging times.”
Summer said the province is working with institutions on ways of managing costs and improving income, but did not specify how.
Cole Reinbold with the BC Student Federation said that job losses, which have been adding since 2024, are affecting students.
“I have many friends who have had to delay their graduation for a year or two years due to the offers of restricted courses,” he said. “Then, what it does is increase the total cost of obtaining a title for tens of thousands of dollars.”
