Colleges prepare for revenue declines owing to Ottawa’s cuts to international student programs

The impact of federal government changes to the international student program is starting to be felt at colleges across the country as they prepare for multimillion dollar revenue declines and deal with what they describe as a diminished national brand that’s hurting recruitment.At Confederation College in Thunder Bay, the number of new international students who enrolled this fall was down 39 per cent compared to a year ago. The college’s president, Michelle Salo, said this is the start of what she called “a very challenging era” for colleges in Canada.Confederation expects to lose millions in revenue, and that will mean an impact on the programs it can offer domestic students, she said. It has paused new hiring and put off a project to expand its training centre for trades. The college has run operating surpluses of about $12.5-million over the last two years, but that additional cushion will run out quickly, Ms. Salo said. She said by next year the financial consequences could be profound.