Lambton College’s domestic enrollment up as foreign enrollment drops

Domestic student enrollment is up nearly 10 per cent at Lambton College this month as it continues to deal with federal moves to cut the number of foreign students in Canada.

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Domestic students make up just over half the 4,500 enrolled in the fall semester, the Sarnia college said.

That total is “slightly short” of where the college hoped to be, mainly due to changes to cap on students coming from outside of Canada, college president Rob Kardas said.

“We’re down about 12 per cent on the international side,” but it’s “a good contingent, still,” he said.

Lambton’s Ottawa campus has about 400 students in space at Saint Paul University, a federated college of the University of Ottawa.

“Overall, it’s a very good news story, especially on the domestic side,” Kardas said.

September’s increase in domestic students at the Sarnia campus is a five-year high, the college said.

“It’s also building on an increase last year, which is a positive,” Kardas said.

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Colleges, in general, saw domestic enrollment decrease during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

“Our college and our faculty did a great job getting us online courses, but college education is about hands-on learning” and that’s “hard to do” online, Kardas said.

Now, “we’re seeing a good bounce back” in domestic enrollment, which “bodes well for local and regional labor markets,” he said.

Lambton College’s popular offering includes its bachelor of nursing program and another “bridging” practical nursing qualifications to a nursing degree, he said.

Firefighting, paramedic, practical nursing and police foundations also remain popular, Kardas said.

“Some of the notable ones, because they’re very much tied to labor markets right now, are ECE (early childhood education) and PSW (personal support worker,” he said.

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The college also saw increases in programs such as border services, electrical techniques, welding, power distribution and control, HVAC, social services and culinary, Kardas said. “We seeing some traditional and not so traditional programs fill.”

Along with offering programs students want, the college has been improving facilities and enhancing social, fitness, sports, counseling and career services to offer a “comprehensive college experience,” Kardas said.

Lambton also is negotiating with a private-sector entity to build a new student residence in Sarnia.

Lambton is “still trying to sort through” the latest federal announcements about changes to foreign student rules, but they are expected to have “a significant impact,” Kardas said.

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Lambton and two Toronto-area private college partners paused new enrollment for this fall when the federal moves ended their students’ access to post-graduate work permits.

The college has estimated the changes could cost it as much as $30 million in lost revenue from international students over two years.

“We’ll still wait on the details of what the changes in the post-graduate work permit will look like” and which programs will still be eligible, Kardas said. “It’s just not completely clear yet.”

But, he added, the college is “entering an era of cost containment.”

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