Conestoga College president John Tibbits defends school's intake of international students

Conestoga College president John Tibbits is pushing back on the idea the post-secondary institution is a bad actor when it comes to the number of international students it accepts each year.

He also pointed to some colleges in Toronto as having larger international student enrollment.

"There are 15 public colleges contracting out their curriculums in Toronto and there's 100,000 students in Toronto. There are no beds and very few services," Tibbits told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition Thursday.

Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller announced in January the federal government would introduce a two-year cap on the number of international student permits coming to the country.

The government says it will approve approximately 360,000 undergraduate study permits for 2024 — a 35 per cent reduction from 2023.

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

Conestoga College held an event on Tuesday to highlight the college's economical impact in the community. On the issue of international students, the website CambridgeToday reported Tibbits was heard calling the president of Sault College in Sault Ste. Marie a derogatory term.

Tibbits acknowledged he used the term on The Morning Edition, but would not talk about it in detail. He said he regretted using the term, but doesn't regret criticizing Sault College.

LISTEN | Conestoga College president John Tibbits defends school's international student numbers: 

The Morning Edition - K-W7:26Conestoga College president, John Tibbits, defends school's international student numbers

<p>Conestoga College has one of the highest numbers of international students in the country. The president of Conestoga tells us what a cap on study permits will mean for his school.</p>

Agrees with international student cap

Conestoga College currently has 30,000 international students across its campuses located in several cities — Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Brantford, Milton, Stratford and Ingersoll — which makes up over half the student population, Tibbits said.

Tibbits said he supports the federal government's decision to introduce a cap on international students, adding the decision could have been done sooner and the government could have given colleges more notice.

"I don't disagree, they should have done something. I think it was heavy handed," he said.

He also pointed to the federal government for letting the number of international students in the country rise, adding the college has tried to reduce letters of admissions by "almost 10,000" over the last three years.

"And yet we got about seven or 8,000 more students than we planned," he said. "We don't decide on the visas, it's the federal government."

Tibbits said the college has already committed to cut the number of international students coming to the college, but would not say by how many other than "it would be substantial."

Expanding the number of student residences

Tibbits said it has taken the college 20 years to build its self as an international business and is an important economic driver for the region. The college currently employs over 5,500 full-time and part-time employees, according to its website, and delivers career and skills training to more than 45,000 students.

But many international students say they often live in crowded houses due to a lack of housing locally. They also say rent in the region is expensive. 

Regional Coun. Mike Harris said on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that he will be witting to Tibbits about international students living in unsafe housing situations due to lack of housing and residences offered by the college.

"Tonight I spoke with a Conestoga College student who recently arrived from India to study at the college. He was taking a break from carrying a chair from a long distance to a house a few doors down from mine. He told me that's about all he had room for as he lives with 13 others," Harris said in his post on X.

"The only Student Residence in Doon was opened up at least 20 years ago"

Tibbits told CBC News students having a place to live is important and the college has expanded its student residences by seven across the communities it serves.

The college purchased two buildings last fall to expand the number of spaces for students to live. The new purchases are located at 60 University Avenue East in Waterloo and 22 Frederick Street in Kitchener.

Tibbits also said the college plans to announce additional student housing projects next week.