Cambrian College cuts 10 programs in wake of $36M decrease

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Well, it’s official. The Cambrian College Board of Governors has voted unanimously to suspend the intake of students for 10 programs.

Programs include:

• Global business management
• Human resources management
• Hospitality - hotel and restaurant
• Mobile application development
• Project management
• Public relations
• Tourism
• Early childhood education administration
• General arts and science with an Indigenous specialization and protection
• Security and investigation

In a presentation, Janice Clark, the college’s vice-president of academics, told the board it didn’t make sense to have programs with little to no enrollment.

She also cited recent changes by the federal government capping the number of international students as a reason the cuts are needed.

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Students currently enrolled in the programs will not be impacted and the college said it will work to find room for the seven faculty members affected by the move.

The decision comes as the audit committee revealed the college is dealing with a $1.4 million deficit.

While there’s money in the reserves to cover the shortfall, there was also a historic drop in the operating budget year-over-year by about $40 million.

Kristine Morrissey, Cambrian College’s president, said the big drop in revenue came from the cuts to international students.

“So, I already spoke to a $16 million decrease in our international tuition and those are for students that study here in Sudbury at this campus,” Morrissey said in an interview Wednesday night.

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“We also have a $20 million decrease in revenue from the school that we operate through our private partner Hanson Canada in Toronto. And so, a $20 million reduction in revenue from that partnership in addition to the $16 million is a $36 million reduction in revenue and then we’ve worked to reduce expenses accordingly.”

Despite international challenges, she said domestic enrollment is still looking strong for 2025.

If circumstances change, the college has five years to bring back the cut programs without the need for ministry approval.