Seneca Polytechnic to close Markham campus citing 'dramatic drop' in number of international students

Seneca Polytechnic says it is temporarily closing one of its campuses north of Toronto because of the federal government's recent cuts to the number of international student permits.

The college says it expects the cuts to result in declining enrollment, requiring the closure of its Markham, Ont., campus.

"It's basically because we are losing international students," the school's president, David Agnew, told CBC News.

Last January, the federal government announced a cap on the number of international students … since then there's been a whole series of announcements that have done real damage to the Canada brand because it's created uncertainty in the international market."

In January the federal government announced a temporary cap to reduce the number of new student visas by more than a third this year. The government said it would approve approximately 360,000 undergraduate study permits for 2024 — a 35 per cent reduction from 2023.

In September the Liberal government said it would further slash the number of international student permits it issues by another 10 per cent. The government said the new target for 2025 and 2026 will be 437,000 permits.

Seneca Polytechnic says the temporary closure will begin at the end of the fall 2024 term.

Programs that were scheduled for the campus will be shifted to the school's Newnham and York facilities in Toronto by the winter 2025 term.

Citing "a really dramatic drop in the number of international students," Agnew said "it didn't make much sense to continue to run a campus that was losing enrollment."

Additionally, he said the school could improve the student experience by incorporating those programs into the two other campuses that were running at full steam. 

Agnew said while Seneca has to close a campus, they are not the only one reeling from a drop in enrollment.

"We're seeing across the country, certainly across the province, real challenges for post secondary in the short term," he said.

"We're seeing program suspensions …we've seen lots of stories about big deficits in universities. So right now it's tough and everybody's got to step up on this one.

"The federal government has to stop this kind of announcement after announcement. We have to create certainty in our market and start to restore that Canada brand and honestly the provincial government has to step up with better funding," Agnew added.

Ontario boosts college and university funding 

In February Ontario announced it would provide a major short-term funding boost to colleges and universities to "stabilize" their finances.

Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop announced the more than $1.2 billion financial aid package after a government-commissioned report found low provincial funding combined with a tuition cut and freeze implemented in 2019 pose a "significant threat" to the financial sustainability of the sector. 

"Our goal is to put students and their needs first, while continuing to produce the world-class graduates Ontario is known for," Dunlop said.

The funding boost includes roughly $900 million for a three-year, post-secondary education sustainability fund, $200 million of which will be reserved for institutions with the greatest needs, according to a news release. Another $167.4 million will go to capital repairs and equipment, $100 million will go to STEM programs, $65 million for research and innovation, $23 million for mental-health supports, and $15 million for audits to identify "long-term cost savings."