B.C.’s Kwantlen university to lay off 70 faculty

About 70 faculty members at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Metro Vancouver will receive lay-off notices Friday after a “sharp decline” in international students resulted in a revenue loss of about $49 million.

Laurie Clancy, vice-president of human resources at the university, says the decision is “sad and unfortunate” because they have a wonderful faculty.

She says the federal government’s cap on international students has “directly impacted” the university with a drop of 2,000 students this year and expected reduction of 1,500 students next year. 

Kwantlen’s website says the school has about 20,000 students and 1,400 faculty members across its five campuses in Surrey, Richmond and Langley. 

Clancy says the layoff will take place on Sept. 1 and will affect members from the Melville school of business and faculty of art. 

She says the provincial government has been advocating for the university, but it’s the federal Immigration Department that needs to be made aware of how its changes affect higher education in Canada.

She says they have to cancel classes, which isn’t good for either international or domestic students. 

“(Kwantlen) is a teaching institution, and so we don’t have the opportunity, like some of the research universities for faculty, if they don’t have the courses to teach, they can do research.”