KPU and Langara layoff more staff after number of I-students drop

With the start of the school year around the corner, some universities are grappling with low international student enrollment, which is leading to widespread layoffs.

Earlier this year, multiple post-secondary institutions in B.C. announced significant cuts, with some schools reducing full-time faculty by nearly 10 per cent.

Another round of layoffs is in the works for Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Langara College.

“They announced an additional 80 regular faculty layoffs that are going to take place in April,” said Brent Calvert, President of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC, in an interview with The Leader Spirit.

“They announced that this week, there were 70 laid off earlier in the spring, and roughly about 150 of those were contract faculty. So that brings the total to just over 300 people, which is 25 per cent of the workforce on the faculty side at Langara.”

Langara College CEO and President Dr. Paula Burns didn’t confirm an exact number of layoffs to The Leader Spirit.

However, she said the reduction notices have been issued to 69 employees and that the school is down approximately 2400 international students compared to last year.

In a written statement, she said, “To adjust to lower enrollment, we’ve had no choice but to move forward with the difficult process of reducing our total employees.”

Staffing cuts across the board have been in part due to federal changes with international permitting, which put a temporary cap on international enrollment in the country, with only 437,000 study permits being issued in 2025.

“We have definitely seen a decrease in the number of applicants coming in, but we’ve also seen an increase in rejection of applications,” said Alex Khadempour, Director at CICS Immigration Consulting Inc., in an interview with The Leader Spirit.

“An application that would easily have been approved a year ago is not necessarily being approved this year.”

This fall, KPU is forecasting to enroll about 2,360 international students, down almost 60 per cent from 2023.

A recent memo from acting KPU President Dr. Diane Pervy says that the decrease results in revenue losses projected to be $5 to $10 million lower than forecasted for the 2025/26 budget.

Another layoff notice was being handed out to instructors at KPI’s Melville School of Business.

In the memo, Kirby said, “We are deeply disappointed these additional reductions are necessary. The university continues to pursue strategies to increase revenues and reduce costs to minimize the need for further action.”

The President of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC says there are a number of factors impacting schools, but the government needs to step in to help guide and support the sector with targeted funds.

“What’s been happening is that post-secondary has been operating on the international student fees for quite a few years, and it’s masked some of the problems with post-secondary public funding that have been taking place,” explained Calvert.

“So now that that is gone, that has been exposed,” he added.

Calvert says the federation will continue to advocate for funding reviews and what the future landscape of the sector could look like given these changes.