A private college in Manitoba says it was forced to sell land and cut courses because of the way the province has applied a federal cap on international student spots.
This year, Providence University College was allocated 120 provincial attestation letters (PALs) by the province, which its provost Nicholas Greco said is a decrease of almost 90 per cent.
The letters are required when international students apply for study permits in Canada. Manitoba is approved for a total of 18,591 PAL students by the federal government for 2025-26. The total allocation for all of Canada is 550,162.
 “We’re not impressed with the provincial government,” Greco said. “We would like more.”
The federal government implemented a two-year cap on international study permits in 2024 with a stated goal of targeting institutional “bad actors” granting “fake business degrees” — and amid concerns about the effect of international student numbers on the housing market.
The cap cut the number of study permits by 35 per cent and allotted each province a portion of the total, according to population. Provinces are left to decide how the study permits are distributed to institutions.
Providence president Kenton Anderson said the federal goals of cracking down on certain schools and addressing housing shortages do not apply to his school, nor to Manitoba’s relatively small number of international students.
“It wasn’t a problem here in Manitoba but they hit it with a blunt instrument. It was an issue in Ontario and British Columbia, and to some degree Quebec,” said Anderson.
Providence had about 1,000 international students before the cap was implemented. The private Christian college hosts most students at its downtown Winnipeg campus, with a few attending its Otterburne campus, 50 kilometres south of the city.
The school had bought more property in downtown Winnipeg with the expectation of growing its programming, but administrators say that property had to be sold.
Providence University College had 1,000 international students before a federal cap on new study permits was imposed last year. This year, it is allowed 120 new international students. (Providence University College)
The school has also had to adjust its programming. Anderson said international graduate students were initially exempt from a cap in Manitoba, but are now subject to one.
Providence’s Winnipeg campus is now only accepting new students to its master of management two-year program, available to students who hold a bachelor’s degree. It also stopped accepting new students this year to two other master of arts programs.
The college asked for 600 more PAL spots for first-year international students this fall, saying bigger public post-secondary institutions like the University of Manitoba aren’t using all their spots. Providence was allocated 30 more instead.Â
“If the publicly funded schools aren’t going to use their allocations, which they’re not, then please, we can use them,” Anderson said.
A provincial spokesperson said the province focuses on labour market needs along with prioritizing public schools. It receives bimonthly PAL projection reports from schools, which can request more PALs, as Providence did.
“To date, 10 post-secondary institutions have been granted additional PALs. The allocation of additional PALs considers both the needs of individual institutions and the usage across the sector as a whole,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.
The universities of Manitoba, Winnipeg and Brandon, along with Red River College Polytechnic, are all reporting fewer international students.
The University of Manitoba saw a 30 per cent decrease last year, from 1,951 students to 1,366 students, and has budgeted for another 7.5 per cent decrease this year.
“In 2024, we were not able to use all our PALs due to a reduction in the number of applicants and a significant delay in permit processing times at the federal level,” wrote a U of M spokesperson via email.
“We don’t have final numbers yet, but we are very concerned about international enrolment for this term.”
The University of Winnipeg last year had 122 fewer first-year international students, an 18 per cent drop compared to fall 2023. A spokesperson said final numbers are not in yet, but that downward trend in international students is continuing.
The number of international students at Red River College Polytechnic dropped eight per cent last year, to 1,100.
Brandon University expects international enrolment to drop 18.4 per cent this year in its budget proposal. It has 51 students before the start of school in fall 2024, compared to 197 students in 2023.