The president of Fleming College in Peterborough, Ont., says she’s “perplexed” by a city council motion to lobby governments in the wake of college’s decision to cut 29 programs beginning this fall.
In her first wide-ranging interview with Global News since the program cuts were first announced in April, college president Maureen Adamson says the post-secondary institution will lose “millions” in revenue — one of the direct results of funding shortfalls, namely the federal government’s new cap on international student that comes into effect this fall.
The federal government says of the nearly 485,000 international student permits approved across Canada for 2024-25 — a 28 per cent decrease from 2023-24 — approximately 141,000 student permits are allocated for Ontario. That’s a 41 per cent decrease from student visas issued in 2023.
Some of the 29 programs impacted at Fleming have high international student enrolment. The college reports nearly 30 per cent of its student population is from outside of Canada.
Adamson says an estimated $40 million in revenue alone will be lost at Fleming’s Toronto campus beginning this fall. That public-private partnership involves Fleming and Trebas Institute Ontario.
Financial models are still being developed to estimate the impact on Fleming’s campuses in Peterborough and Lindsay, Adamson notes.
“It will be significant and it will be in the millions,” she said.
Adamson says “due diligence” was taken to determine what programs would be cut, noting some programs were subsidized by the international revenue stream to help cover additional costs, such as delivery, full-time faculty, maintenance and insurance.
“Frankly, they were programs that were largely undersubscribed or had a very high cost of delivery,” she said. “The reality I think a lot of people don’t necessarily understand is that the international revenue stream has subsidized some of these lower-enrolled programs for many years.
“So there’s a gap between the revenue from tuition versus the cost to run a program. And we’ve been able to close that gap with international revenue — to date. But that will no longer be available to us.”
City of Peterborough motion
On Monday, Peterborough city council voted in favour of a motion first presented by Coun. Joy Lachica on June 17. The motion will see the city “encourage” both the federal and provincial governments to increase support to college boards, while establishing “metrics and direction” around maintaining courses where cohorts “offer a return on investment in the local economy.”
It follows a similar motion passed by the City of Kawartha Lakes, as it shares concerns about the impacts at the Frost campus in Lindsay.
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“It’s an alarming loss to our economy, to students, to faculty, to businesses and to the community,” Lachica said of the program cuts during the council meeting.
The motion passed 7-4, with some councillors expressing concern that the city was overstepping its jurisdiction and that the issue is between higher levels of government.
“This is a governance issue for the president of Sir Sanford Fleming and in this case, her board,” Coun. Gary Baldwin said.
On Tuesday, Adamson said she was “perplexed” by Lachica’s motion, citing a lack of consultation with the college, especially when talking about specific programs.
The college president says when the federal government first “put the hammer down” with the international student cap, all three levels of government extended support to Fleming.
“In contrast, I was very perplexed by the motion that Coun. Lachica put on the floor a week ago and last night, because Fleming College was not consulted in any way. No decision maker at Fleming was consulted,” she said. “Frankly, we were not given a heads-up that the motion was even going to be tabled.
“So the perplexing moment for me is, ‘Why is a municipality putting a motion on the table when Fleming College is overseen by the province and without any input from decision makers at Fleming”?”
In an email response to Global News on Tuesday, Lachica said the motion isn’t “to examine internal governance decisions by any means.”
“It was a straightforward advocacy motion directed to the ministry as well as recent federal policy,” she stated. “In the face of these government constraints, it is a municipality’s prerogative to listen to and advocate for its community, economy, labour force and ultimately, its municipal tax base. Just as the City of Kawartha Lakes, has listened and advocated, so too has the City of Peterborough, with a vote of 7-4.”
Before council’s vote, several business owners, organizations and Fleming students shared their concerns about the economic fallout from the college’s program cuts and challenges to recruit new employees.
“We are already feeling the pinch on finding skilled business people in this town,” said Nigel Lister with consulting and engineering company Cambium. “It’s a lot harder to pull them here.”
The program cuts include conservation and environmental law enforcement. Mark Ryckem with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters says the nearest site offering that program will now be in Sault Ste. Marie in northern Ontario.
“Unfortunately the decision to eliminate the enforcement program — which consisted of entirely domestic students, I might add — will make it more difficult to recruit high-quality candidates,” he said.
Lachica says Ryckem’s message struck a chord with her.
“As Town Ward councillor, I’m fervent about sustaining and growing our local small businesses,” she said. “We need to keep our trained workforce local. As a labour-endorsed councillor, listening to community and advocating for their needs is my business as their elected representative.”
Adamson says when the federal cap was first announced, the college spoke with a number of employers to discuss the possible impacts.
“I appreciate the passion of all of those delegates and I appreciate their input and comments,” she said. “I think what is missing in the equation is the matter of international revenue subsidizing programs that are undersubscribed with high-cost delivery.
“I commend councillor (Lesley) Parnell for her comments on the future viability of Fleming College because that’s what these decisions are all about.”
Future for Fleming
Adamson says there is a possibility some programs could be brought back, but “it will depend” on the full impact of the federal cap and subsequent revenues.
“Obviously if there are some that the community needs, we would want to find a way of delivering that for them,” she said. “We’ve began some discussions with some industries (on partnerships) but again it’s very early to tell.”
She also said confidential talks continue between the college and unions representing faculty on the fallout of the program cuts.
“Union leaders and as well as management have been at the table for many days and for many hours working very hard to try to mitigate against any kind of layoffs to the best that we can,” she said. “And I think we’ve made some great progress and I hope to be able to make some announcements on that shortly.”
Adamson says the goal for the college is to “play the long game” as revenues will start to decline.
“I think the path forward for Fleming is to grow at what we’re really good at and we’re really good at a lot of things,” Adamson said. “We still have over 100 programs and it’s my intention — and I believe the intention of the board — that we ensure future viability of Fleming College.”
The 29 programs to be cut at Fleming College:
- Business – Accounting (BAC)
- Business – HR (BHC)
- Conservation and Environmental Law Enforcement (NRL)
- Ecological Restoration (ERJ)
- Ecosystem Management Technology (EMX, EPX, EPD, EMD)
- Electrical Power Generation (EPG)
- Emergency Management (EMP)
- Environmental Technician (ETN)
- Environmental Technology (ETY)
- Environmental Visual Communication (EVC)
- Fish & Wildlife Technology (FW)
- GAS Environmental & Natural Resource Studies (GSN)
- General Arts & Science University Transfer (GSU)
- GIS Applications (GIA) & GIS Applications Online (GAO)
- GIS Cartographic (GC)
- Global Business (GBS)
- Health, Safety and Environmental Compliance (HSE)
- Heavy Equipment Techniques (MPH)
- International Business Management (IBM)
- Law Clerk (LCK)
- Marketing Management (MKT)
- Mechatronics (MTY)
- Project Management (PMG)
- Recreation & Leisure Services (RLS)
- Supply Chain (SCL)
- Therapeutic Recreation (THR)
- Urban Forestry (UF)
- Urban Forestry Technician (UFT)
- Waste Resource Management (SWM)
—with files from Robert Lothian and Uday Rana/Global News
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