Stonemasonry gave the 'Limestone City' its name. Now there's no local program to keep the skill alive

Heritage buildings earned Kingston, Ont., its nickname, the "Limestone City" — but starting this spring the local program training the workers needed to maintain so many landmarks will stop welcoming students.

St. Lawrence College (SLC) has announced 55 programs, or roughly 40 per cent of its offerings, will halt admissions. Among those being cut back is the brick and stone masonry apprenticeship.

"We need to be removing barriers to entry into the trade and not creating new ones," said Craig Beattie, president of Edgewater Stonemasons. "This looks like a pretty big one to me."

His company specializes in conservation and natural stonework. Beattie was expecting to take on two apprentices from SLC in March. Now he's not sure what will happen.

Programs at SLC campuses in Kingston, Brockville and Cornwall are all being hit by the cutbacks — everything from accounting and culinary management to police foundations and child and youth care.

The college is the latest post-secondary institution to announce reductions amid a wave of financial trouble that's hit Toronto's Centennial College and pushed Algonquin College to consider shuttering its campus in Perth.

In a media release listing affected programs, SLC president Glenn Vollebregt pointed to the federal government's cap on international students, describing it as "short-sighted."

In a statement sent by email, a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said the integrity of the international student program has been "threatened" in recent years and changes were needed to protect them from "bad actors."

"Some institutions have significantly increased their intakes to drive revenues, and more students have been arriving in Canada without the proper supports they need to succeed," read the message attributed to Rémi Larivière, adding that's put pressure on housing, health care and other services.

Education is a provincial responsibility and tuition is set by individual institutions, the statement continued, so IRCC "can't comment on the finances of educational institutions."

Job losses could follow

In an interview with CBC, Vollebregt said limiting international students has hit the college hard. St. Lawrence had about 12,000 students enrolled across its sites a year ago, but that number has since plummeted to 6,700.

"That gives you an idea of the scope and the breadth of these challenges," he said.

Anyone already in the middle of a program will be able to complete their studies, according to the college, which means instructors can expect to continue teaching.

However, Vollebregt said faculty and administration account for more than 70 per cent of the college's expenses, so if the programs don't resume, jobs will be lost.

"If we have no programs then we do not need the folks that are in those programs — absolutely," he said. "That's a natural extension of program closures."

Vollebregt said deciding which programs would stop accepting students was based on three criteria:

• Projected enrolment.
• Financial sustainability.
• Meeting a need for the local labour market.

The move will mean roughly 700 students who were enrolled in SLC programs will be told they can no longer study what they'd signed up for, according to the president, who described it as a "tough, sad day" for the college and community.

'A great program'

Asked about the brick and stone masonry apprenticeship, he called it a "great program," adding it's one that's close to his heart as his grandfather worked in the trade.

While only domestic students were signed up for that program, it was subsidized by SLC's larger enrolment, said Vollebregt, so without international students, the money just isn't there to keep it going.

Beattie, the stonemason, said the biggest challenge he's faced in running his business has been finding skilled workers. That pushed his company to focus on developing apprentices, but now it seems that option is gone, too.

Without the SLC program, Beattie fears students will leave the area for Toronto or Ottawa, or leave the trade altogether to take up something else.

"We have this architectural heritage," he said. "We really should have a training program and a base of skilled trades in the city that matches that."

6:36St. Lawrence College program suspecions decided by '3 types of criteria,' president says.

St. Lawrence College's president and CEO speaks to CBC's Dan Taekema about the decisions behind suspending 40 per cent of the college's programming. We also hear from a Kingston-based stonemason and business owner about the impacts that program cuts could have on his business.