Lambton College ‘pausing’ private college partnerships

No new international students are expected at Lambton College’s two Toronto-area private college partners this fall, but current students will continue their studies after recent federal student permit changes, the college president says.

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The changes aren’t expected to significantly affect the number of international students at the college’s Sarnia campus, or its “public-public” partnership with Ottawa’s St. Paul University, in September, Rob Kardas told Rotary Club of Sarnia members Wednesday.

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“It’s business as usual here,” Kardas said. “We expect to have an enrolment in September that is fairly close to what we’ve seen in past (years).”

In January, about half of the Sarnia campus’s 4,000 students were international students, he said. Another roughly 180 international students attended Lambton’s Ottawa partner.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced in January his department was cutting student visas by 35 per cent and keeping them at that level for two years, and making other changes, citing pressure on housing, health care and other services.

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That “changed the landscape” for Lambton College, which had about 7,500 international students enrolled in January at the two Toronto-area private colleges, Kardas said.

Those students had been eligible for a post-graduate work permit in Canada after graduating from a two-year program, he said.

“The federal government has now said that students at those public-private partnerships will no longer, unfortunately, be eligible for a post-graduate work permit,” and Lambton is “pausing” its roughly 17-year-old partnerships, Kardas said.

Lambton was one of the first colleges to have public-private partnerships and “we’re doing a lot of work behind the scenes to try to work with governments to understand Lambton’s approach to those partnerships,” he said.

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The federal cap on international student study permits has “a two-year window,” and “we don’t know what our allotment will be beyond 2024,” Kardas said.

The college has estimated the federal changes could cost Lambton as much as $30 million over two years in lost revenue from international students, who pay higher tuition fees than domestic students.

“Which is obviously very significant,” Kardas said.

“It’s going to force us to look at all activities and operations of the college,” he said. “But we’re not panicking about this. We’re going to take a methodical approach.”

Lambton College has had budget surpluses for 23 years it used to expand and update its Sarnia campus, he said.

With the changes to international student rules, planned Sarnia campus capital projects “that have donors connected with them are continuing,” Kardas said. That includes an upcoming outdoor education project.

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Construction of an Indigenous outdoor gathering space will continue and plans for a new student residence – privately financed, built and run – are expected to go to the college’s board this year, he said.

“We have paused a plan to revamp our east entrance,” Kardas said. “We are slowing some of those capital projects for the time being while we assess what next steps are.”

He defended Lambton’s long history with international students, saying the college in 2023 had the highest student visa approval rate, one of the highest compliance rates, and high admission standards.

“They are coming with significant qualifications and backgrounds to start a new life in Canada,” Kardas said.

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