Almost a year after the number of international students coming to Canada was capped, resulting in a drop of almost 50 per cent for Ontario, colleges in the province have started to make deep cuts as the sector goes through a “rebalancing.”
Several colleges have announced massive changes and suspended programs, blaming the moves on the reduction in international students, which they relied heavily upon for funding.
Internal government documents obtained by Global News also lay out just how dependent the sector was on international students — with more foreign than domestic learners at colleges last year.
The same documents show last year that, on average, international student tuition was the largest source of revenue for all of the province’s public colleges.
Faced with layoffs and cuts, the government said it remained confident in public colleges — and their role in training graduates.
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“We are currently focused on making sure that post-secondary programs get Ontario students into rewarding careers …