NEWS RELEASE
GEORGIAN COLLEGE
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Like most Canadian post-secondary institutions, Georgian College has been adjusting to serious financial constraints resulting from chronic underfunding and more recent policy changes by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
As a result, the college is making necessary adjustments to ensure its long-term sustainability. Though these changes are driven by necessity, Georgian remains steadfast in its mission to inspire innovation, transform lives and connect communities through the power of education.
These adjustments include, but aren’t limited to, a voluntary retirement program, standardization of support staff hours, expanded summer semester teaching assignments, and layoffs.
On Feb. 25, president and CEO Kevin Weaver updated the Georgian community about the overall impact to date. The college faces a projected financial gap of approximately $45 million for 2025-26, and an estimated gap of an additional $15 million to $20 million for 2026-27.
“Our financial shortfall is largely due to a sharp and significant decline in international student enrolment, which further exposed the long-term underfunding of the Ontario college sector whereby the provincial grant funding we receive is 44 per cent of the national average,” said Weaver. “To address this, we’re implementing measures to safeguard the college’s long-term financial sustainability.”
As of Feb. 20, 2025, 86 roles have been impacted: 45 layoffs, 31 voluntary retirements and 10 vacancy closures. This brings the total number of full-time positions impacted since January 2024 (when the first international student enrolment policy changes were announced by IRCC) to 229, representing about 22 per cent of Georgian’s full-time workforce.
“None of these decisions have been made lightly, but out of necessity of our financial situation,” said Weaver. “Deciding to lay off our people is extremely difficult. We’ve done our very best to minimize the impacts on our employees. We’ve also worked to ensure that we remain uncompromising in our commitment to our students. We want our current and incoming students to know we’re committed to delivering an unrivalled student experience. This is a difficult time, but we’re hopeful that by working together with all levels of government, we can navigate these challenges and emerge stronger and more resilient.”
In addition to reductions in staffing, Georgian has also reviewed its programming to reflect declining international enrolment. The college anticipates an enrolment decrease of nearly 3,200 international full-time students in 2025-26. When compared to 2023-24, this represents a 45 per cent reduction in international enrolment.
Georgian's domestic enrolment has been increasing yet that growth is not sufficient to cover the gap arising from international student declines. When combined, Georgian anticipates a decrease of approximately 13 per cent (or 1,800 students) in 2025-26 versus 2023-24.
At this point, while it hasn’t cancelled any programs, the college has suspended intakes and reduced the number of sections in some programs due to lower international enrolment:
- In 2024-25, 20 program suspensions were implemented for various semesters, locations and delivery types.
- To date, for 2025-26, 45 program starts have been removed across various semesters, locations and delivery types in 29 unique programs.
In programs where enrolment declines are significant, wherever possible, Georgian is providing alternative delivery formats to keep the programs available to meet labour-market demands and provide students with the skills required in today’s economy.
Georgian staff continue to find creative ways to offer programs while minimizing financial risk. For example, instead of offering a program at multiple campus locations, the college has consolidated delivery to select sites. In some cases, a full-time program has been replaced with a part-time or online learning option.
“One of the many unfortunate consequences of the cumulative impact facing Ontario colleges right now is that there will be a diminished talent pipeline for key sectors as the number of graduates will decline,” said Weaver. “Furthermore, the economic impact of reduced student spending in the region is estimated to be $17.6 million. Now more than ever, post-secondary, government and industry need to work together. As we face looming tariffs, our economy may experience major disruption to supply chains and jobs. Ontario colleges play a critical role in upskilling and reskilling our labour force as businesses grow, diversify and innovate.”
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