Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ont., suspends 11 programs as schools deal with cap on foreign students

Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ont., is suspending 11 academic programs due to declining domestic enrolment and the federal government's caps on international study permits — joining more than a dozen other schools in the province contending with financial challenges in part because of the policy.

In announcing the program suspensions Wednesday, Confederation College cited "a thorough review of enrolment trends, financial performance and labour market data."

On Thursday, its president, Michelle Salo, spoke at a media event.

"There have been 16 other colleges in Ontario out of the 24 Ontario colleges that have recently suspended programs," Salo said.

"That amounts to more than 300 programs across Ontario, a significant decision across the Ontario college system."

Since the federal international student caps were introduced last year, most study permit applicants have been required to submit a provincial or territorial attestation letter.

At Confederation College, that has resulted in 22 per cent fewer international students this year compared to last year — 1,544 provincial attestation letters in 2025 compared to 1,929 in 2024.

The suspensions will impact four per cent of projected incoming domestic students starting in September, the college says.

"We used to have, in the fall intake, around a 45 per cent international ratio. We'll be 25 to maybe even closer to 20 per cent of international to domestic students, so a significant drop," Salo said.

No staff layoffs have been announced at this time.

Many of these programs are high-demand employment programs, which is the unfortunate part of having to make a suspension like this.- Michelle Salo, Confederation College president

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada plans to issue 437,000 study permits across the country in 2025, a 10 per cent decrease from last year's cap.

With a federal election underway, Salo said the college and community partners have been advocating for more support, especially as the region looks to fill critical labour market shortages in key areas.

Suspended programs in 'high-demand employment areas'

Confederation College draws in about 7,000 part-time and full-time students each year. The following programs are being suspended:

• Business — human resources.
• Business administration — human resources.
• Culinary management.
• Human resource management.
• International business management.
• Aerospace manufacturing engineering technician.
• Aerospace manufacturing engineering technology.
• Electronics engineering technician.
• Instrumentation engineering technician — process automation.
• Dental assisting — levels I and II.
• Educational support.

Those already enrolled in the suspended programs will be able to complete their studies. Program suspensions differ from program cancellations, in that they could be reintroduced at a later date.

"Many of these programs are high-demand employment programs, which is the unfortunate part of having to make a suspension like this," said Salo.

"The unfortunate part is that our domestic enrolment numbers have been declining for the last decade, and now without the international students to help support a reasonable cohort, it's just been unmanageable."

All the programs that have been suspended do not allow post-graduate study permits for international students, something the college is pushing the federal government to change.

When asked whether the college has relied too heavily on international students to stay afloat, Salo said "I don't think so at all."

"The reality is that our domestic numbers have been declining, our population has been declining. We've seen some migration to university versus colleges," said Salo.

"I think our growth in our international student enrolment over the past decade is very much in line with our decrease in domestic student enrolment over that same time," added Aaron Skillen, vice-president of academic at the college.

"We stayed within an enrolment number that we've been comfortable with here at Confederation College for years."

Partnerships with other schools

One way the college is looking to streamline its offerings is by working more closely with other institutions.

Last week, the school announced a partnership with Seneca Polytechnic, based in the Greater Toronto Area, which will focus on aviation programming while also exploring a potential veterinarian technician program model for the northwest region.

"By leveraging our combined expertise and resources, we can better prepare career-ready and world-ready graduates who will address critical skill shortages and support the growth of key industries," said Marianne Marando, vice-president of business development and international at Seneca Polytechnic, in a news release last week.

To meet demands, Confederation College is also introducing other new programs, including an electrical technician program in the fall.

"We're pretty open to any new program ideas that we think both meet our local and regional labour market needs, and ideally would have a great interest from a student population standpoint as well," said Skillen.

Keeping the college sustainable

Jamie Taylor is CEO of the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC). While Confederation's program suspensions are disappointing, she said she isn't surprised the college has had to resort to this given the financial constraints at hand.

When it comes to meeting labour needs in the region, Taylor said she's particularly concerned about the impact of the engineering technology trades and aviation program suspensions. 

"It's not only just about the college itself," said Taylor. "Bringing people into our community has a very strong economic impact [on] our community as a whole."

What stands out to her is the fact Confederation College does not get funding from public-private partnerships, as compared to many other institutions.

"Unfortunately, everyone is treated in the same way in terms of [study permit] allocations, and we are suffering because of that," she said.

The Thunder Bay CEDC says it will continue to advocate for the college at both the provincial and federal levels, because "we want to see the investments that they need to be able to continue with the programs, and for our college to be sustainable in our community."