St. Clair College bucks Ontario trend by projecting $10M increased budget surplus
Heather Kitching | CBC News | Posted: November 28, 2024 7:52 PM | Last Updated: November 28
Windsor school's president said the strategy is to 'plan for the worst and hope for the best'
Despite an Ontario tuition freeze and federal restrictions on international student visas, St. Clair College says it will exceed its projected surplus for the 2024-2025 fiscal year by an estimated $10 million.
The school went into the year with an anticipated surplus of $13 million, according to president Michael Silvaggi.
Officials told board members at a meeting Wednesday night that they're now projecting a surplus of $23 million.
"When we operate from day to day, we do certainly operate on a conservative nature," Silvaggi told CBC Windsor Morning on Thursday.
"However, domestic enrolment was up, so our tuition revenues were up quite simply, both on the international side and the domestic side."
Recently, the city's other main post-secondary institution, the University of Windsor, said it was facing a $30- million shortfall next year, warning of layoffs and freezes.
"As an institution, we must face the reality that the status quo cannot be maintained and we need to figure out together how to do less with less," university president Robert Gordon previously told CBC News.
"We are entering a new era of reimagining the University of Windsor, where tough decisions lie ahead."
'Plan for the worst and hope for the best'
The college chose to "plan for the worst and hope for the best" when creating its 2024 budget, he added, knowing that the federal government was making changes to its policies on international students.
Universities across the province are facing financial losses of $300 million this year, and that's expected to double next year, according to Steve Orsini, president and CEO of the Council of Ontario Universities.
Colleges Ontario also told CBC in a statement that it "continues to be deeply concerned about the impact of the federal government's changing policies on immigration and the adverse impacts on students, communities and local economies."
Mohawk College in Hamilton is projecting a $50-million deficit for the 2025/26 academic year and has said there will be layoffs; St. Lawrence College in Kingston said it has eliminated 30 positions; Seneca Polytechnic said it plans to temporarily close one of its campuses.
The federal government has said it will issue approximately 300,000 fewer international student permits over the next three years.
Silvaggi said that "of course" will impact St. Clair's budget going forward.
"International students provide in-year revenue," he said. "That's what generally drives your operations as well as capital infrastructure projects and so forth. … So certainly we are making and planning for those adjustments … and we have no choice but to pivot accordingly."
This year's surplus will allow St. Clair to complete planned projects, Silvaggi said.
But he did not commit to any staffing increases or specific new investments associated with the funds.
Past surpluses have enabled the school to do "a little bit of everything," he said.
"The reality is, when you have surpluses, you have that buffer.
"It allows you to continue to try new things. … every program goes through a program life cycle. So there's peaks and valleys, and those surpluses allow you to continue because we have programs that really do meet the needs of Windsor Essex."