Heather Wright/The Independent

Forty support staff at Lambton College have already left and there are fears of far more job losses due to the federal government cutting the number of International student visas.  

The union representing the workers is looking for a clear plan from college administration. 

In January, the federal government admitted the program was out of control with nearly one million students in the country. It cut the number of student visas to 360,000.

Lambton College, like many other community colleges in Ontario, relied heavily on international students as a source of funding. The school attracted over 4,524 international students in 2023, according to its annual report. That generated about 52 per cent of the college’s income or $31.5 million from student tuition and another $43.5 million from licensing agreements with three private colleges.

One of those colleges, Cestar in Mississauga, won’t accept any students this fall according to OPSEU’s Candace Young. 

So far, the college has suspended 18 programs and laid off 40 support staff; three other full time professors left.

Employees have been offered buyouts and the President, Rob Kardas, told members of the media last month that between 20 and 25 per cent of the workforce could be eliminated. 

Young says the union is looking for a concrete plan. “We do have a lot of faculty who are fearful for their positions, especially part-time faculty, contract faculty, because they’re going to be the ones that are going to hit the hardest,” she says adding the college will try to “maximize” the use of its full-time faculty. 

Those part time workers have just unionized, joining OPSEU. 

“I know it definitely everyone feels it, though, even full-time faculty are worried because their program could be suspended for whatever reason, because it’s happening all across Ontario.” 

Young said there is a possibility of a 50 per cent decrease in International students in the Lambton Colleges with some students turning away from Canadian colleges in the wake of the visa cap. “It’s not a good look…it doesn’t make them feel very welcome,” she says.

Local 125 President Michelle Arbour says the college is “targeting” staff and isn’t being transparent about administrative costs. “We need to look at management bloat and ballooning executive salaries,” as the college charts its course for the next few years.

Arbour says faculty “shouldn’t be the ones to bear the brunt of these cuts especially when the crisis we’re facing is due in part to mismanagement of the colleges.”

The Independent has made repeated requests to talk to Kardas about the impact of the federal cuts over the past months; thus far, he has been unavailable to comment.