Concordia may lay off workers as it slashes tens of millions from its budget

Montreal Gazette

29-05-2025

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Concordia University is warning of possible layoffs as it orders all departments to cut spending by 7.2 per cent. It says it must slash tens of millions from its budget amid declining revenue, falling enrolment and other financial challenges.
'Layoffs are a last resort and part of a set of measures being discussed given our financial situation,' Concordia spokesperson Vannina Maestracci told The Gazette Wednesday.
The university employs about 7,000 faculty and staff.
In a budget update this week, Concordia said it's 'not currently implementing layoffs, but they may be required later in the 2025-26 fiscal year.'
This appears to be the first time the cash-strapped university has indicated it may cut positions.
McGill University, facing similar financial difficulties, has already taken that step.
In March, McGill said it planned to lay off about 100 employees as it worked to eliminate a projected $45-million deficit for next year. In the end, about 60 employees were let go, a spokesperson said Wednesday.
Concordia's board of governors recently approved the university's 2025-26 budget.
Faculty and staff have been invited to a town hall meeting on Monday. Concordia's chief financial officer and provost are to provide an 'update on the university's situation and funding priorities.'
In the 2024-25 academic year, Concordia lost about 700 students, or 2.3 per cent of its student body. 'This drop is directly linked to policy changes introduced by the Canadian and Quebec governments,' the university said.
Concordia blames its budget outlook on several converging issues.
The challenges include a two-year freeze on provincial operating grants despite rising costs, and a provincial clawback of revenue from international students.
In addition, 'enrolment has declined, particularly among international students — the result of restrictive visa rules by the Canadian government, the Quebec government's tuition policy changes and other barriers,' the university said.
Student enrolment accounts for 85 per cent of revenue.
The university said that as an anglophone institution, it faces specific obstacles, including the Coalition Avenir Québec government's decision to significantly hike tuition for out-of-province students.
It noted that Concordia, McGill and Bishop's, Quebec's English universities, were also 'excluded from two grants open to francophone universities supporting international recruitment and the transition to the new funding framework.'
Concordia launched its financial recovery plan, approved by Quebec's Higher Education Ministry, in 2023. The university plans to return to a balanced budget by 2029, by which time it expects to have made almost $200 million in cumulative cuts.
Concordia has scaled back operations in recent years, cutting the number of classes offered, as well as shuttle bus service and cleaning and security schedules.
For the first time, the university is projecting an overall revenue decline for the upcoming academic year. The drop is expected to be $18.4 million.
'At the same time, the university is managing salary increases, inflation, indexed contracts and other rising costs,' Concordia said. 'After two years of meeting its deficit targets, Concordia must now take even stronger action to stay on track.'
Under its recovery plan, Concordia must aim for a $31.1-million deficit in 2025-26. To achieve that, the university said it must find $54 million through savings or new revenue.
Concordia is implementing a 7.2 per cent budget cut across all sectors. It's also exploring ways to reduce workforce expenses, which make up 72 per cent of its budget.
The university said it will 'more vigorously' apply an ongoing hiring freeze. It's also closing 100 vacant staff positions, bringing the total closed jobs to 200.
To cut workforce expenses further, it's 'actively discussing' other initiatives, including 'reduced workloads, shared services, broader use of attrition, a voluntary retirement program, and layoffs if required to meet targets.'
To help generate revenue, Concordia aims to recruit an additional 1,000 students in 2025-26. However, that objective could be challenging due to Quebec's decision to cap international student enrolment and give itself more say on where and what they study.
Concordia president Graham Carr said his university faces a 'pivotal moment.'
In an open letter, he said Concordia, like other universities, has long relied on growth in student numbers, but that model no longer holds, he said. Now, Concordia must transform its business model, 'becoming less vulnerable to unexpected shifts in government policy.'
'We can do this by continuing to economize and thinking differently about our internal operations and organization, while also augmenting our traditional academic programs and research revenues through the pursuit of new opportunities and lines of activity,' he said.
Concordia isn't alone. A recent Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire report projects that Quebec universities collectively face a deficit of almost $134 million in 2025-26.
In March, the Bureau, which brings together 20 Quebec universities, criticized Premier François Legault's government for freezing university funding in the last provincial budget.
The freeze will 'force universities to make cuts to honour already-negotiated salary agreements and absorb cost increases due to inflation.' Meanwhile, the mandated drop in international students will cost universities $200 million.
'Quebec still lags in university attainment and suffers from chronic underfunding compared to other Canadian universities — still estimated at more than $1 billion,' Christian Blanchette, the rector of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, said at the time.