Manitoba post-secondary schools say they're losing students, money due to international student cap

Manitoba's universities and colleges say Ottawa's decision to limit the number of new international students being welcomed into the country is already costing them hundreds of students and millions of dollars.

The number of international students enrolled at the University of Manitoba, the province's largest post-secondary institution, decreased seven per cent from 6,915 students in the fall term last year to 6,433 students this year, the university's preliminary fall enrolment report says.

The number of new international students decreased from 1,951 students to 1,366 students, the report says.

The U of M "is concerned to see an approximately 30 per cent drop in new international students and a seven per cent drop overall," a spokesperson said in an email Thursday.

"Even with positive growth in domestic enrolment, the international student drop can be expected to have a long-term impact on our institution."

Meanwhile, the University of Winnipeg is estimating approximately 122 fewer first-year students from abroad, an 18 per cent drop compared to fall 2023. 

The university's early estimate pegs the financial loss at $4 million this fiscal year, which will reduce overall tuition revenue by five per cent.

Although total enrolment isn't finalized yet, the universities say the signs of slumping international enrolment are a direct result of the federal government choosing to limit the number of international student permits for the next two years.

The federal government imposed the restrictions earlier this year to try to stop small private colleges from taking advantage of international arrivals and to bring relief to the country's crowded housing market. 

'Significant impact' on U of W

The University of Winnipeg says the impact will be noticed beyond first-year classes.

The university estimates its professional, applied and continuing education programs, as well as its English language programs, will face a 30 to 35 per cent drop in international enrolment, or around 106 students, year-over-year.

"These decreases represent a significant impact on the university," Caleb Zimmerman, a spokesperson for the university, said in an email. 

In total, the U of M had almost 7,000 international students and the U of W more than 1,600 international students last year.

A number of other Manitoba post-secondary institutions also said they're noticing fewer international students on campus, though they said it was too early to attach a financial cost to the decline.

Red River College Polytechnic is counting almost 1,100 new students from abroad this year, an eight per cent drop compared to last year.

However, the college is projecting an overall two per cent increase in enrolment, due to a spike in domestic registrations.

Brandon University is also seeing a notable drop in first-time international students: 51 students as of mid-August this year, compared to 197 students at the same time last year. However, the university cautioned this year's total should change "significantly" as more students register.

Meanwhile, Assiniboine College, also headquartered in Brandon, has seen a 20 per cent increase in the number of international students this fall, with around 420 new students.

But the spike in enrolment is likely to be short-lived, the college's vice-president for enrolment said.

By the time Ottawa communicated to the provinces in March about the number of international study permits they'd be allowed, "a lot of the [enrolment] offers for September had already been made," said Danielle Adriaansen.

The new federal limits will likely jeopardize international student enrolment in the upcoming winter and spring terms, she estimated, although it's too early to assess the extent of the likely decline.

"If we're anticipating a certain number of students and that doesn't materialize, that can hurt us on the enrolment front. It can hurt us on the revenue front as well."

The college may also scale back the size of some classes, she said.

As it stands, Assiniboine expands some provincially funded programs or creates new classes based entirely on tuition and fees paid by students.

Since those expansions require a minimum number of students to run without losing money, a decline in international students would threaten the viability of some of them, said Adriaansen.

Tuition bump possible: Kinew

Premier Wab Kinew also warned universities may raise tuition on domestic students to make up the difference. In Canada, international undergraduate student tuition is about four times higher on average than domestic tuition, according to Statistics Canada.

"The federal government has taken this action, and you have Manitoba students heading to university and college who could potentially be facing higher tuitions as a result of this, because the money has to come from somewhere, right?" he said Thursday, after an unrelated news conference.

Kinew said his government would try to assist, but the province is coping with its own fiscal challenges.

Meanwhile, modest bumps in the number of first-year international students are being recorded at the University of St. Boniface, which so far has 83 new international students — five more than last year. Canadian Mennonite University has one more new arrival this year than the 11 who came in fall 2023.

An international student who arrived in Winnipeg in January, around the time the federal government announced the new limits, said he's grateful to have arrived before the federal measures may have complicated his efforts.

"I'm lucky, because it's not easy to come here to study," said Ahmed Darmousa, 18, who is Palestinian and studying to become a doctor.

"With what's happening now in Palestine, it's hard for me to come here, but I'm here now," he said.