Providence forced into cuts in wake of enrolment drop

Providence University College and Theological Seminary is laying off 10 per cent of its workforce and downsizing its academic programming.

The faith-based school, headquartered in Otterburne, is the latest to announce budget cuts connected to a drop in international enrolment.

“We find ourselves in a tough spot,” president Kent Anderson said in an interview during which he likened the federal government’s cap on study permits to “a tsunami.”

“We’ve lost 90 per cent of our international student body and that has created a substantial loss of something close to half our overall revenues.”

The private post-secondary institute is projecting its budget for next year to be around $13.5 million, down from $26 million.

Anderson hosted a town hall on the main campus, located about 50 kilometres south of Winnipeg, where it operates a secondary site, to update staff and students on the financial situation this week.

The employer, which has about 115 positions, is finding cost savings by cutting jobs, leaving positions unfilled and reducing employees’ hours.

The announcement comes on the heels of the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology revealing it is closing down, also because of a shortfall in international tuition. Citing similar challenges, the University of Winnipeg temporarily froze hiring last year.

Anderson described his post-secondary institute’s new strategy to stay afloat as “a dual retraction and attraction scenario.”

The school is pausing programs, finding cost reductions across departments and scaling back operations on the Winnipeg campus. At the same time, senior administration is developing “Providence Global,” an initiative to bring graduate education to different cities across the world.

Canadian colleges and universities have been assigned a limited number of annual provincial attestation letters — invites they can hand out to prospective international students — since 2024.

Manitoba has received 11,196 for next year, 110 of which it has earmarked for Providence.

The private school received 87 in 2024 and 130 for this year, although its president said they’ve found only about half of them are resulting in actual admissions.

Applicants have to submit their invite letters to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to secure a study permit.

The selection criteria is somewhat unclear, said Advanced Education Minister Renée Cable, who has been vocal about her criticism of the federal government’s shift in immigration policy.

“It’s been devastating. I can’t overstate how much of an impact it’s had on our post-secondary system,” Cable said.

Federal officials have argued the changes are necessary to protect international students from diploma mills and reduce demand on housing, health care and other services.

Cable said there’s been a renewed focus on domestic recruitment and “right sizing” programs as local school leaders grapple with new restrictions.

Providence is pausing its communications and media and intercultural studies programs “indefinitely.”

Another casualty is the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages initiative, better known as TESOL.

Assistant professor Ana Soares burst into tears as she described her devastation about its imminent shutdown.

“This is the worst. It’s so sad because we know the work and the programs we have developed… have made a difference in our students’ lives,” Soares said.

Originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Soares moved to Manitoba as an international student in 2019.

Shortly after graduating, Soares was hired to expand the TESOL program, which was only offered on the main campus at the time, to Winnipeg.

The Exchange District site (294 William Ave.) strictly taught international students who hailed from countries such as India, Nigeria and Ghana.

Prior to Canada’s overhaul of the study permit system, Providence had been planning to expand its international student program.

The school recently sold the building it had bought to house dorms on the corner of Webb Place and Balmoral Street.

Historically, international students have accounted for more than half of its student population.

A total of 999 international students, the majority of whom are expected to graduate this spring, were enrolled for 2025-26.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

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