Centennial College will suspend nearly a third of its programs, in an attempt to survive a major drop enrolment due to the federal government’s new limits on international students.
On Monday, the Toronto-based community college announced it will not accept students in 49 programs for the 2025-26 academic year, as it braces for new era of tightened immigration in Canada. The suspended programs represent roughly 28 per cent of the college’s 177 full-time programs, including tourism, 3D animation, food and beverage management, journalism and international business.
Centennial president and CEO Craig Stephenson said job losses for staff and faculty “will be unavoidable,” though the college didn’t clarify how many cuts are expected.
In response to criticism over steep population growth in recent years, the federal government has instituted controversial new caps on the amount of study permits it gives to international students. Late last year, the government announced more reductions on study permits for 2025, bringing the cap down another 10 per cent.
Centennial, which bills itself as one of Canada’s “most culturally diverse” post-secondary institutions, expects new international enrolments have dropped by about 5,000 students, or 43 per cent, in the current academic year alone, according to spokesperson Michelle Ervin.
Stephenson said Centennial was forced to review its slate of programs to make sure it could stay economically viable. All students currently enrolled in the suspended programs will still be allowed to graduate, and the college left open the possibility of restarting the programs sometime in the future.
“We are doing what we must to position the College for long-term sustainability,” Stephenson said. “However, it doesn’t diminish the profound and regrettable impact program suspensions will have on our community.”
Centennial is only the latest in a series of Ontario colleges to make major changes in an attempt to stay afloat. Last month, Sheridan College said it is suspending 28 per cent of its programs, while looking at the viability of another 19 per cent, because it expects the changes to the federal international student program will tank its enrolment by 30 per cent. And in October, Seneca Polytechnic announced the closure of its Markham campus at the end of the fall as international applications plummeted.
With files from Nicholas Keung and Janet Hurley