Latest news with #SAIT
Calgary Herald
16-05-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Bow Valley College lays off 103 employees amid $15.6M budget shortfall
Bow Valley College cut 103 staffers due to a budget shortfall of $15.6 million triggered by a decline in international student enrolment. Article content Article content Another cause for the institution's predicament is federal funding reductions for programs, including the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada and the Foundational Learning Assistance Program. Article content 'The college had to find efficiencies and make difficult decisions,' a statement by the college read, adding that jobs slashed included 97 occupied positions and six vacant roles. Article content Article content 'The college is committed to supporting its employees through these changes as we continue adapting to developments in the post-secondary landscape.' Article content Article content The pool of international students has been drying up as the federal government caps the flow of student permits to ease the pressure of a surging population. Article content However, the prospect of fewer international students, who are charged three or four times the domestic tuition fees, has left post-secondary institutions reeling as they grapple with historic funding shortfalls from federal and provincial governments. Article content Most recently, SAIT has confirmed its photojournalism major — one of the last programs of its kind in Canada — will be discontinued this year, thanks to a loss of international students. Article content
CBC
13-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Why the federal cap on international students has hit Alberta — even though it still has room
Social Sharing Back in 2020, the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology launched a five-year plan that centred largely around boosting its ranks of international students. "Our roots are in Calgary, our ambition is global: to bring more of the world to SAIT," the document reads. By that measure, the plan has been an overwhelming success. The 2023-24 school year saw a record number of international students attend SAIT, far outstripping even what the polytechnic institute had expected. The influx of international students — whose tuition is often double, triple or even quadruple that of Canadian students taking the same courses — brought with it a major revenue boost. International tuition at SAIT totalled $132 million for the year, marking an 81 per cent increase from the year before. (Domestic tuition was up as well, but by a relatively modest 12 per cent, to $78 million.) And while SAIT has seen the largest increase in international students, it's far from alone in this trend. There were nearly 30,000 more international students enrolled at Alberta post-secondary institutions in 2023-24 than there were a decade prior, according to provincial data. Community colleges and polytechnic institutions account for nearly three-quarters of that increase. (SAIT, alone, accounts for 20 per cent.) In early January 2024, however, things started to change. That's when the federal government announced a two-year cap on international study permits. The move was described as targeting "bad actors," particularly in Ontario, where the provincial minister responsible for colleges and universities expressed concern that some institutions were "taking advantage" of international students "with false promises of guaranteed employment, residency and Canadian citizenship." It also came amid concern over the effect international students were having on the housing market. These concerns were particularly acute in Ontario, which had nearly 10 times as many international study-permit holders as Alberta at the end of 2023, and in British Columbia, which had more than triple Alberta's numbers. Given the way the new federal rules allocated study permits to each province, however, Alberta was actually allowed to admit more international students in 2024 than it had in 2023, while the number of newly issued permits in Ontario and B.C. was curtailed. The allocation for Alberta was boosted again for 2025. In other words, while Ontario and B.C. are bumping up against the federal cap, Alberta still has room. Yet while it could welcome more international students than ever before, the number of new study permits that took effect in 2024 actually declined by about 10 per cent compared with the previous year. Leaders of Alberta post-secondary institutions say they've seen even bigger declines in study-permit applications in 2025, as they believe the new federal rules have discouraged many would-be international students from even applying. And, they say, the implications for institutions that have come to rely on these students could be significant. 'No longer welcoming' Pablo Ortiz, dean of students at Alberta University of the Arts, says international applications at his institution are down 26 per cent since the federal cap was announced, and actual admissions of international students are down 30 per cent. The university has not hit its cap and could admit more students — if it could find them — but he says the new federal rules have had a chilling effect on prospective applicants in other countries, who have interpreted them as a sea change in the way Canada views foreign students. "Basically, what we're saying [as a country] is that we're no longer welcoming of international students," he said. "That's the message that everybody, at least, is reading abroad." As a smaller institution, AUArts could be significantly affected by the loss of international students, according to Ortiz. "Some programs that relied heavily on international student enrolment might see reduced offerings or even discontinuation," he said. Calgary's Bow Valley College is much larger, with an international student body that measures in the thousands. But it, too, has been affected. Under the federal rules, it was allowed to provide roughly 2,400 provincial attestation letters last year, which are required documents for most study-permit applicants, confirming they have been assigned a place to study at a particular school. But Bow Valley wasn't able to meet that threshold, said Kara Sayers, dean of enrolment management and registrar, falling about 10 per cent short. "And we enrolled far fewer students than that at the end of the day, because you lose them at other points in time along the process," she said. The loss of tuition revenue can have far-reaching implications, she added. "When you're looking at the financial sustainability or viability of a program, and you don't have that international tuition to offset it, I think there are vulnerabilities that come in," she said. "And it isn't necessarily just programs that have a lot of international students, but all of this gets intertwined for an institution." 'Competitive environment' At The King's University, a small Christian institution in Edmonton, international applications are down 34 per cent. President Melanie Humphreys says it's a "competitive environment" in terms of global recruitment, and prospective students are looking elsewhere after the federal government introduced the cap, along with additional paperwork and rule changes that make coming to Canada more challenging. "If Australia or the U.K. or some other country replies sooner in terms of guaranteeing them of a visa, then that's where they go and that's where the talent goes," she said. Humphreys, who also serves as chair of the Alberta Post-Secondary Network, described the federal cap and associated changes as a "sledgehammer" policy that was largely aimed at a handful of Ontario institutions that were seen to be taking advantage of the study-permit system but is catching Alberta colleges and universities in its wake. "From the very beginning, Alberta actually has been a responsible player," she said. The two-year cap on study permits expires at the end of this year and she'd like to see "a far more surgical approach" from the federal government in 2026. Gabriel Miller, president and CEO of Universities Canada, had a similar view. "What we saw was a series of rapid-fire, blunt policy decisions by the previous federal government that sent a message to the world that Canada wasn't as interested in being a premier destination for the most talented people in the world," he said. "And the rest of the world got that message. And so we've seen a drop in the number of people applying to come here. And we've seen a drop in enrolments." 'There's education and there's edu-business' At SAIT, which has seen the largest growth in international students over the past decade in Alberta, teaching staff are now bracing for a decline. They're also anticipating job losses — particularly among those who aren't members of the full-time, permanent faculty. "We were notified that there was potentially some layoffs," said Blair Howes, president of the SAIT Academic Faculty Association. He said the union hasn't yet received official notice of specific layoffs from SAIT but it's expected some positions will be discontinued. "They have indicated that some of the casual positions and temporary salary ones were likely not to be renewed for the upcoming, next semester." SAIT president David Ross declined to be interviewed for this story. The Calgary-based institution recently informed teaching staff that its photojournalism major would be discontinued in September due to reduced international enrolment. Overall, however, Howes said there's not as much "doom and gloom" among SAIT faculty as perhaps there is at some Ontario institutions, where international student enrolment has seen much more drastic declines. He credited SAIT for handling its expansion of international student enrolment "fairly well," especially compared with how some other institutions in the country have approached it. "I do think that for some of the smaller organizations and institutions, it was pretty much a greed-motivated cash cow, for lack of better words," he said. At the same time, he also believes many institutions, including SAIT, have been forced to look for additional revenue streams due to years of government funding cuts, and boosting international student enrolment has provided an enticing solution. "There's education and there's edu-business, and the two sort of meld together," Howes said. "I would say that, in some cases, that was a forced initiative. I mean, if you're not going to fund post-secondary the way you funded it 10 years ago, but here's the opportunity: you can make up your shortfall by increasing foreign tuition."
Calgary Herald
06-05-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Imperial Oil donates $37M research lab to SAIT, largest-ever corporate gift to an Alberta post-secondary
Imperial Oil Limited has gifted a $37-million research facility to the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), marking the single largest corporate gift to any post-secondary institution in Alberta, according to SAIT. Article content Article content The 40,000 square foot Imperial Energy Innovation Centre will support the expansion of SAIT's energy innovation applied research and aims to create opportunities for collaborative industry research and student training. Article content Article content 'Imperial established the first petroleum research facility in Canada more than a century ago, creating many of the processes and technologies foundational to oilsands development and used across the industry to this day,' said Brad Corson, Imperial's chairman and CEO, in a release. 'We are excited that this space will create new opportunities for collaborations within the innovation ecosystem here in Alberta and expand SAIT's programs and facilities to support the next generation of STEM professionals.' Article content Article content 'The new Imperial Energy Innovation Centre will help drive the next generation of energy research — fostering innovation and bringing together leading industry professionals with top researchers in their fields,' Ross said. Article content SAIT, one of Canada's top five research colleges, says the donation represents a 'powerful' integration of Imperial's extensive research in the field of oilsands recovery technology with SAIT's own research. Article content 'As a conductor driving applied research innovation with SAIT students, ARIS and industry, this facility will bring together leading researchers in petroleum engineering with the next generation of thinkers and innovators,' the release states. 'The Imperial Energy Research Centre will be a launchpad for solutions to in-field challenges and will enhance the forward movement of applied energy research that drives Canadian industry.' Article content We have BIG news! 🚨 SAIT has been donated a $37 million research lab facility from @ImperialOil in the single largest corporate gift to any post-secondary institution in Alberta. 👏 #HereAtSAIT #Research #SustainableEnergy — SAIT (@sait) May 6, 2025 Article content Imperial will continue to use the SAIT-operated facility to support its ongoing research focused on reducing the environmental impacts of its operations, the release states. Article content Imperial is Canada's largest petroleum refiner, a major producer of crude oil, a key petrochemical producer and a leading fuels marketer.
Hamilton Spectator
05-05-2025
- Science
- Hamilton Spectator
Hack-and-Seek challenges city students to think virtually
For the second year, Lethbridge Polytechnic will be hosting Hack-and-Seek, a beat-the-clock virtual reality (VR) event for high school students. Hack-and-seek participants will be working in teams of three to create a VR experience from scratch in three days. About 68 students will be participating in this challenge at three locations-Lethbridge Polytechnic, SAIT and NAIT, with the polytechnic hosting 20 of the participants. This will be Cooper Horne's second crack at this event, after placing second last year. He says he was a little nervous coming into this, but came out with new friendships formed. 'Last year I was a little bit nervous because I didn't know how good I was going to be compared to everyone else, but it was a lot less about comparison and more talking to everyone and seeing what was out there and what everyone came up with.' Horne is one of six returning participants, something Anamaria Turk, applied research operations officer for Spatial Technology and Applied Research and Training (START), says is very exciting to see. 'It's really nice to see that they've really got something out of the event and they really want to come back and go back at it again.' Turk says while this experience will give them hands-on experience and a project to show for it afterwards, it's also teaching them skills such as teamwork, which are equally important. She adds that the kids won't know their teammates until the event and they work as a team throughout the event. The final results of Hack-and-Seek will be filmed on Sunday and posted to the Lethbridge Polytechnic's YouTube channel.
