Staff and students at Conestoga College have been left looking for answers after a number of programs were cut just days before the start of the fall semester, which has led to layoff notices being handed out to more than a dozen employees.
According to Leopold Koff, president of OPSEU Local 237, the union representing faculty and counselors at the college, students arrived at orientation last week only to find out that the program they had signed up and paid for had been suspended because of low enrolment numbers.
“They were told, ‘Guess what? you’re programs been suspended. We will try to find you something else’,” said Koff. “They don’t have an answer for these students right now who have paid their tuition, they’ve arrived and are ready to go, and they’re trying to find them something that might be a next option or best fit.”
Koff added that any programs that don’t have an allotment for international students or funding from government agencies are potentially on the chopping block.
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“They’re not even sure what program they’re going to be graduating from at this point, or if any,” said Koff. “Other colleges have already started. If they don’t want to go to Conestoga they gotta get their money back, they gotta find another institution with another program. I fell for them, I really do.”
11 full-time faculty and two counselors were reportedly handed layoff notices as a result of the suspension of those programs. Koff said that the union is attempting to retain those employees.
The loss of the counsellor positions could have a significant impact on staff and students according to Koff, as each counsellor serves dozens of people, and they’ve been reduced from 10 counsellors on staff to just seven after these cuts.
“It’s an exponential impact on the reality of how it impacts students and things like their mental health,” said Koff. “It’s something that, these days especially with stresses of all kinds, is very critical. We’re very concerned about that.”
In August, Conestoga College reported a $121 million surplus in their yearly financial statements, but forecasted a deficit for the 2025/26 financial year because of a strong dip in enrolment numbers.
The college’s president, John Tibbits, said that, since the fall semester of 2023, their international student enrolment had dropped by 20,000 students, equaling a financial loss of approximately $450 million.
“Canada’s rapidly declining popularity as an international education destination has made the fiscal situation even more problematic: no Ontario college has been able to achieve its allotted international enrolment,” said Tibbits.
OPSEU is pushing back against the alleged mismanagement and underfunding of Ontario colleges this week with their Save Our Colleges campaign, kicking off at multiple campuses across the province.