Factoring in a reduction in its international students due to government policy, Cambrian College’s board of governors has approved a budget for the 2024-2025 school year that shows $13.4 million less in revenues from the previous year.
The college’s 2024-2025 budget is balanced, with no deficit or surplus, and anticipating both revenues and expenses of just over $125 million.
In January, the federal government announced it is making several changes to stem the explosive growth of international students being brought into Canada by post-secondary institutions, which has caused issues that include pressure on housing.
That included a cap on international student study permit applications and ending post-graduation work permits for those attending private colleges.
Cambrian College has a partnership with a GTA-area private college called Hanson Canada to educate international students in Toronto, on top of those studying at the college’s Sudbury campus.
This partnership is now winding down. The province has announced that career colleges will not receive any new international student permit applications, with 96 per cent of permit applications going to publicly assisted colleges and universities.
Projections included in the budget show the Hanson international student population going from its high in January 2024 of 6,244 down to 1,951 in January 2025.
The Sudbury campus international student population is also expected to decrease, from 3,137 in January 2024 down to 2,003 in January 2025.
Domestic student enrolment is projected to stay the same, standing at 2,797 in January 2024 and the same number in January 2025.
Cambrian’s board has increased international student tuition for 2024-2025 by three per cent, but, as per provincial government directives, domestic tuition continues to be frozen.
International students have been a ready source of income for post-secondary institutions in Ontario, as they’re charged higher tuition fees.
“From a revenue perspective, we budgeted for just over $125 million in revenue,” said Meghan Roy, Cambrian’s director of financial services, speaking at the college’s April 25 board of governors meeting. “You can see that we assumed that our domestic enrolment would remain flat from the previous year. Our international enrolment assumptions were based on the progression of current students that we currently have, and we included a conservative amount of new students in each term.”
She said the number of new intake of students is within the new allocation set by the province, and Hanson’s enrolment is based on “similar methodology,” Roy said.
“Beginning in September, students from private colleges are not eligible for post-grad work permits. So we've not included any new students for September or January for Hanson,” she said.
Other impacts on Cambrian College’s revenues include reduced interest income of $6 million and reduced income from international application fees of $1 million.
Expenses are up at Cambrian by $1.8 million over the previous year, and, as stated above, also sit at $125 million for 2024-2025.
“Our salaries and benefits were increased due to our annual salary escalations and having our vacant positions fully accounted for,” said Roy.
“We did have some new positions added to support academic activities and recruitment In other programs, operating costs were adjusted to reflect the activity level that was included in the enrolment assumptions.
“So international-related expenses, expenses such as commissions and student support fund would reflect the lower enrolment. Additional investment in the 24-25 budget includes some additions to our IT infrastructure. Inflation was factored in where appropriate and contingency has been set aside to address any unknown expenses that we might come across during the year.”
Also at the April 25 meeting, Cambrian College’s board approved its 2024-2025 capital budget, which would see $4.3 million spent on capital projects in the next school year.
“This budget will be partly funded by our annual capital grants that amount to $2.7 million, and it will require an additional $1.6 million of internal funding from our capital appropriation,” said Roy. “The capital projects include $1.7 million for campus renewal and deferred maintenance, $1 million for academic teaching and learning equipment, $837,000 in strategic projects, that include student study spaces, $345,000 to ancillary for a new dorm roof, and $365,000 for some IT capital infrastructure.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.
