Conestoga College will need to cut their international student intake this September by more than half of their current enrolment.

In a statement on its website Thursday morning, the college says&nbsp;officials&nbsp;will&nbsp;assess the enrolment and operational impacts as a result of the news and communicate more&nbsp;details to students and staff when they can.

&nbsp;its plans for&nbsp;how it would&nbsp;deal with the federal government's&nbsp;cuts to international student numbers announced by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller&nbsp;

Roughly 100,000&nbsp;fewer international students will getting permits to study in Ontario this year under the federal government's cap.

&nbsp;also revealed that Ontario's colleges will lose out on $3.1&nbsp;billion in revenue over the next two years as a result of the drop in international student enrolment.

Conestoga College granted more&nbsp;than 30,000 study permits to international students last year. The province said&nbsp;the biggest declines in study permits&nbsp;will be seen at Conestoga College.

Ontario colleges to face biggest hit from foreign student cap

Only one Ontario university will see its international student intake shrink this year while more than half of the province's public colleges face a drop, under a plan announced Wednesday by Premier Doug Ford's government. 

University of Toronto

A man is walking away from Conestoga College campus on January 23, 2024.

More than half of Ontario's public colleges will face a shrinking intake of international students under a plan announced Wednesday by Premier Doug Ford's government. Conestoga College in Kitchener is among the schools facing the biggest drop.

Student leaving Conestoga College in Kitchener

Conestoga College buys several properties in Waterloo to expand student housing

In an effort to expand student housing, Conestoga College says it has bought two properties and leased another in Waterloo.

Photo of people standing in front of a building with the sign "Inn of Waterloo"

Conestoga College has announced it will lease the former Inn of Waterloo for student housing. The college released this photo as part of the announcement. Those pictured are (from left): Trish Weigel Green, Conestoga's vice president of students; Tim Schill, vice president, facilities and capital development; Jerry Drennan of Drewlo Holdings; John Tibbits, president of Conestoga College; Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe; Nelson Chukwuma, president of Conestoga Students Inc and Allan Drewlo of Drewlo Holdings.

Conestoga College Inn of Waterloo lease agreement

The former Inn of Waterloo will renovated to house 300 students. It's part of several buildings Conestoga College has secured to expand student housing in the region.

waterloo inn

In an interview with CBC Kitchener-Waterloo in February, Conestoga president John Tibbits defended the&nbsp;school's intake of international students.&nbsp;

"Now, we're the focus because we're large and we're large because we serve 1.2 million people," Tibbits said in the interview.

Tibbits said at the time that the number of&nbsp;international students makes up more than half the student population at the college and&nbsp;many of those students are studying across&nbsp;campuses in&nbsp;Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Brantford, Milton, Stratford&nbsp;and&nbsp;Ingersoll.&nbsp;

The college's statement on its website said the school has been a "predominant source of skilled workers in the eight cities we serve."

The Ontario government revealed how it would divvy up a shrinking number of international students among the province's colleges and universities. Conestoga College will see the biggest declines in international student study permit. 

Conestoga College will need to cut international student intake by more than half this September

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