THUNDER BAY — Officials at Confederation College and Lakehead University are breathing sighs of relief after hearing their approved allocations for international students will remain unchanged.
In January, the federal government announced a country-wide reduction of 35 per cent in the number of undergraduate study permits it would issue for foreign students in the next school year.
Ottawa left if up to the provinces and territories to determine how to distribute allotted permits among universities and colleges in their respective jurisdictions.
Leaders of the two Thunder Bay institutions both initially expressed concern about the effect this could have on them, but Ontario's ministry of colleges and universities has now decided that neither school will be required to reduce their international student intake in the coming year.
"That's incredibly welcome news," Lakehead University president Gillian Siddall said Tuesday.
"Like every university, we were worried about the impact. We're just delighted we're going to have the same number of students eligible to come as we had last year."
Currently, about 1,900 students – or roughly 20 per cent of LU's student population of more than 9,000 – are from other countries.
Ontario post-secondary institutions charge much higher tuition fees for foreign students, and many schools rely on them to support programs they might not otherwise be able to offer.
But Siddall said: "We see international students as incredibly important to the richness of our environment here at Lakehead, and also to Thunder Bay and the region. They make incredible contributions, and we're just always so happy to have them here . . . It makes for a very rich learning environment."
At Confederation College, where about half the enrolment of 4,700 is currently comprised of international students, Michelle Salo, chief operating officer, said the institution is one of the 11 (out of 24) Ontario colleges whose allocation of international students will be unchanged next year.
Confederation has about 1,300 available registrations for first-year enrolment.
Many colleges had been working to further increase their international component, but Salo said Confederation is happy with its allocation.
"We knew in this past year that we were kind of reaching where we thought was the maximum amount for the community and for the college, based on our housing availability, our residence, and just overall enrolment within our programs. So we are very pleased. I had the opportunity to thank Minister Dunlop when she was here this past week."
Salo said the college will be cutting only one program that's primarily an international program, International Business Management.
"That was one of the programs identified by the ministry in the moratorium for two years. There was a review done by the province on high-demand skills and programs that align with that, and that was one of the ones that were identified among a number of programs.
"We're fortunate that's the only one that we offer that was listed in the moratorium."
Salo expressed gratitude to groups and individuals who spoke out on behalf of retaining the college's international component since the federal announcement.
"There were a number of government supporters as well as city supporters and business supporters who really lobbied for the college, and that doesn't go unnoticed. We're very appreciative."
The federal cap will be in place across the country for two years, but the precise number of permits to be issued in 2025 will be reassessed at the end of this year.
