Conestoga College’s controversial president has stepped down, effective immediately. In an email sent to the school’s students and employees on Wednesday, John Tibbits announced he had informed the Board of Governors that he was retiring as the president. “This decision comes with deep reflection and immense gratitude” the email, signed by Tibbits, said. “Serving as an educator and as President of our remarkable institution has been the privilege of my professional life. For nearly four decades, I have had the opportunity to work alongside extraordinary employees and leaders who shared a deep commitment to student success, quality education and the communities we serve.” Tibbits said he was grateful for the friendships and partnerships that have been forged over the years and that he was “incredibly proud of how Conestoga has grown, adapted and remained nimble” when it comes to addressing the needs of local labour markets. “I had planned to retire two years ago and deferred my departure a few times to support continuity during a period of significant change. Over the past months, I have worked closely with the Board and the senior leadership team to ensure a smooth transition and to position the college for continued success,” the email said, in part. “On a personal note, as I get older and following the recent passing of my brother before the holiday and my partner four years ago, I feel it is time to spend more time with my family. While this chapter is closing, I will never be far from the Conestoga family. This place, and the people within it, will always be held dear in my heart,” Tibbits wrote. Controversy and criticism Over the last few years, Tibbits has made headlines for several shocking moments. In February 2024, he was embroiled in a war of words with the president of Sault College, David Orazietti. It happened after Orazietti criticized Conestoga’s impact on the federal government’s decision to cap international student enrolment. Tibbits called Orazietti a “whore” in response to the claims that Conestoga College was one of the “bad actors” that resulted in a reduction of international student permits. “Like Orazietti, why are his goddamn students in Toronto? Why not up there? Talk about a whore. I mean, he’s taking a percentage of the profits of an operation,” Tibbits was quoted as saying by online news outlet CambridgeToday. Orazietti said he was taken aback by the choice of words. “I’m shocked that a public college president would use that kind of language, and personally attack another individual or colleague,” Orazietti said. Two of Conestoga College’s unions called for Tibbits to step down following the incident. Tibbits later said he regretted making those comments and apologized for his remarks. Tibbits also faced criticism as hundreds of Conestoga College employees were laid off after he was named as Waterloo Region’s highest paid public sector worker in the 2024 Sunshine List. The list names public sector workers with salaries surpassing $100,000. Tibbits pulled in a salary of $636,107 that year. In December 2025, 181 full-time faculty members and 197 support staff were laid off right before Christmas. The move sparked the ire of union representatives. “I am deeply angered by the decision made by Dr. John Tibbits and senior leadership to send notices of layoff and reassignment during the holiday season,” Vikki Poirier, president of Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 238, wrote in an email to members after the support staff layoffs were announced. The union representing full-time faculty members said they have filed 124 grievances over the layoffs. Local 238 is working on filing around 20 to 30 grievances of their own. “The accusation of contracting out some of the work rather than keeping it in-house,” Poirier said. “Lack of reassignment or improper reassignment. We are also looking at, while we know management has a right to decide on complement and how the work is distributed, is it a policy union grievance when the work is there?” In October 2025, Tibbits also faced a barrage of questions at a federal committee examining the country’s international student policies. The college and Tibbits had been facing scrutiny over the number of international students attending the school. Conestoga College’s international student enrolment grew by 1,579 per cent in seven years, from 763 students in 2014-15 to 12,808 in 2021-22, according to a 2024 report from Ontario’s Big City Mayors. Tibbits appeared at the October committee meeting by video. When committee members were given the opportunity to address witnesses at the meeting, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner posed the first line of questioning to Tibbits. “I’ve got to say, it’s kind of a mess,” Rempel Garner said after asking several questions regarding strains on housing stock, youth jobs and the healthcare system. “You were quoted as saying about Sault College president David Orazietti some pretty wild things. You called him a whore, yet I note that your salary is over $600,000. You are now the highest paid college or university president in the province. We’ve heard some pretty bad things about foreign students at your college. How do you reconcile those comments you made about another university president with your current salary and the mess that the region now finds itself in due to your decisions to juice foreign student permits to that level?” Tibbits refuted some of her claims. “First of all, the region is not in a mess. Secondly, I did apologize about that matter. That was a mistake,” Tibbits said. “There’s been a lot of polling that has said that Canada’s immigration consensus is broken. Do you take any responsibility for that given that you juiced foreign student permits to a level where healthcare, housing and jobs clearly didn’t have the capacity in your region?” Rempel Garner asked. “All our students found housing. They did,” Tibbits insisted during the 10 seconds he was allotted to answer the question. Throughout the course of the meeting, Tibbits would reiterate that the college has been investing in housing to ensure students have access to suitable accommodations. However, committee members pushed back on that idea, noting local media outlets, including CTV News, published a story in 2024 where regional councillor Michael Harris said he had spoken to a Conestoga College student who had left a home he had been sharing with 13 other students. The college declined an interview request. However, the Chair of the Board of Governors Martha George wrote an email to students and employees extending best wishes to Tibbits. Adding the board is confident in the schools future and a comprehensive executive search is now underway. Finding a successor Work has already begun to find Tibbits’ replacement. In March of last year, the school announced Tibbits’ contract had been extended until the end of 2026, but the search for his successor was already underway. It will be the school’s first leadership change in nearly 40 years as Tibbits has been at the helm since 1987. Norma McDonald Ewing will step in as the interim president while the board continues its search for a new leader. Unions respond Meanwhile, OPSEU, which represented many of the employees who had recently been laid off at the college, said they are “celebrating the start of a new chapter.” “This win belongs to every worker, student and neighbour that has been devastated by John Tibbits’ destructive tenure,” Leopold Koff, President of OPSEU Local 237, said in a news release published on Tuesday afternoon. OPSEU Local 237 represents faculty at Conestoga College. “Now the adults can sit down and talk.” Poirier said, “To undo Tibbits’ legacy of ruin, we need to be directly involved in reform and the search for new leadership.” But there was also a call for more transparency about the resignation. “We hope this change in order will rectify Tibbits’ outlandish salary, which was one of our recommendations to the college alongside his resignation,” Koff said. “The public ought to know what his resignation will cost us, too – another million dollar pay-out to get him through the door?” During an interview after the news broke on Wednesday, the unions told CTV the resignation came as a surprise. “Definitely, wasn’t on my bingo card for 2026,” Poirier. “We’ve requested to sit down and have a good fulsome, open, transparent conversation about the decisions that have been recently made. With the hope to look for maybe some reconsideration changes, as well as looking to the future, with the selection process for looking at a new president that the locals be included.” Both Koff and Poirier said they are optimistic about working with the interim president. “The ship is headed towards the rocks. The captain abandoned ship, the new captain is on board. We want to work with that captain to redirect the course of the of the ship,” Koff said. The pair said they didn’t have much of a relationship with Tibbits, but they are hoping that changes with whoever steps into the role. “We hope for that. and We will expect it. And if we don’t, then we’ll have to take further action,” Koff said. With reporting from Cory Nordstorm and Jennifer K. Baker
